The International response to land-based marine pollution (1992-2001)

A successful outcome from the Agenda initiative was the Global Programme of Action (GPA) for Land-based Activities (LBA), which was established under the United Nations Environment Programme.

GPA/LBA sets out international targets and methods by which states can achieve the objectives laid down in Agenda 21.

The level of achievement of the Agenda 21 objectives is an indication of the current success of the GPA/LBA mandate.

Scoring System: Based on research and personal interpretation, and use of the table below.

High	Objectives achieved in developed and developing countries
Medium	Objectives achieved in either developed or developing countries
Low	Objectives not achieved

There is an important distinction to be made based on the global distribution of wealth and resources, between high and low-income countries.

A persistent trend in developing countries has been the failure to apply "joined-up" thinking, using the above objectives in an integrated manner, ensuring that environmental measures go hand-in-hand with economic improvements :A root cause of which continues to be associated with severe economic restrictions, and an institutional environment, which is often poorly structured.

Objectives A and B: Apply preventative, precautionary and anticipatory approaches and ensure Impact Assessment of activities Level of success: Medium

Following the 1998 Sintra Statement the precautionary principle is being used in the OSPAR convention as the basic motivation for policies tackling the problems and issues of hazardous substances. The precautionary principle has been applied to limit emissions and discharges with the overall �target of the cessation of discharges, emissions and losses of hazardous substances by 2020�. (Sintra Statement) This ambition of �near zero� inputs or emissions has been viewed in OSPAR as representing �a shift to the more precautionary approach.� (Richards 2000)

In developing countries the precautionary principle has a reduced influence in environmental policy making due to the greater reliance upon Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) reflecting the pressures on economic and institutional resources.

This is certainly the case of sewage treatment in the GPA region of East Africa. In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Case Study) the creation of a sewage treatment system for a population of 3 million, costing US$220 million, is justified against the costs of the current lack of facilities for domestic sewage estimated at US$565 million spread over a 25-year period.

Precautionary action to reduce Nitrogen and Phosphorus inputs has only been attempted at the regional level, but the threat to the marine environment from these sources continue to increase, as action is confined to a reactionary role. Improved methods of fertiliser application, including the use of natural wetlands to intercept nutrient runoff and the use of improved fertilisers illustrates precautionary action (GEAMP.2001).

HELCOM (Helsinki Commission), which oversees integrated management in the Baltic Sea has set threshold levels for Nitrogen and Phosphorus at a 50% reduction compared to current use, with the aim to promote changes in land use practises. More preventive measures attempted in Chesapeake Bay, USA to remove Nitrogen from effluent proved partially successful but at a huge expense and were consequently disregarded as a viable option.

POPs Convention (2000)	Synthetic Organic Compounds
122 signatories Banned 12 chemicals Most toxic and persistent	11,000 known compounds in useDifficult to control
Problems: Reliance on precautionary action without adequate assessment �Stock piling� in developing countries Lack of alternatives, DDT still used to tackle Malaria Failure of joined-up thinking, ignoring overriding economic influence on poor countries	Problems: Lack of research for alternatives esp. herbicides and fungicides� Bans usually reactive, precautionary action needed. Organochorlines well studied Limited scope: banned only in hotspot areas

Objective C: Integrate marine environmental protection into relevant polices Level of success: Low

The rapid rate of urban population growth, and an inability to deal with the associated diffuse sources of pollution, has meant that integrated marine environmental protection has been difficult in developing countries.

Attempts in developed regions have also failed in the objective of achieving an integrated approach. In the European Union this has been recognised as the result of the traditionally sectoral approach to marine management (where) there is still poor integration between policy and management of sectors including fisheries, oil and gas, mineral extraction, land and sea based pollution and shipping. (Jones S 2000)

The sectoral approach is indicative of the current institutional framework for environmental policies in the UK, where government departments are compartmentalised into dealing with traditional issues. For example, the disjointed arrangements is evident in the fact that MAFF is responsible for regulating fishing, DTI is responsible for oil and gas exploitation, Environment Agency controls and regulates industrial and domestic pollution, and English Nature is responsible for habitats and conservation.

The sectoral framework is being challenged by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as WWF and Greenpeace who are succeeding in promoting piecemeal changes, as seen in the 1999 UK judicial review of off shore oil licencing procedures and the failure of integration with the EU Habitats Directive.

is a microcosm of the problems of land-based activities occurring in other developing countries. The Caribbean UNEP initiative provides the opportunity for states in the region to succeed in integrating policy under the Assessment and Management of Environmental Policies (AMEP), incorporating protocols for addressing land-based sources of marine pollution.
However, the failure of region wide implementation is linked to Caribbean countries being economically dependant on exploiting natural resources and investing in polluting industries. Another barrier to the success of the AMEP initiative has been the political unwillingness of many of the region�s states to compromise their sovereignty and cede significant authority to an external programme. The Wider Caribbean also suffers from array of additional problems, including the legacy of decades old environmental legislation inapplicable to present circumstance.

�The contracting party shall apply�(b) the polluter pays principle, by virtue of which the costs of pollution prevention, control and reduction are to be borne by the polluter. (article 2.2b)�

The use of economic incentives in the European Union and the UK is well established and predates the 1992 Rio Declaration, with the internalisation of costs resulting in the development of cleaner technologies through BATNEEC provisions

In the UK the polluter pays principle (PPP) is widely applied to all forms of pollution through effluent charges and tradable waste permits and has succeeded in promoting a higher standard of water quality management.

The use of PPP requires a high level of monitoring and the stringent enforcement of regulatory provisions, the lack of institutional capacity in developing countries, which has restricted its application and the failure to internalise costs.

It is important to realise that improved alterations in livings standards has to be integrated with general environmental approaches. It is estimated that, in general, coastal economies are wealthier than those, which are landlocked. For non-European developing countries the average per capita of coastal countries is US$ 5,567, which is 3 times the landlocked figure of US$ 1,771.

If economic development is at the expense of the natural environment, including degradation of coral reefs or removing mangroves, the increase in living standards will only be short-term. Basically, it needs to be sustainable.

Part of the overall objective for the Common Fisheries policy for the European Union is to improve the economic status of many coastal communities dependent on fishery resources. A widely accepted consequence of the Common Fisheries Policy is that most natural resources have been exploited beyond their safe biological limits, with current fisheries practices being unsustainable.

Aiming to improve coastal living standards is not a holistic approach to solving a root cause of environmental degradation. Improving coastal living standards may only exacerbate the problems of population migration and urban growth, and increase the gap between rich and poor sections of society.

The GPA and Global Environment Facility (GEF) are principle mechanisms for the North to South Transfer of technology and appropriate resources. Unfortunately, the level of resource allocation by these organisations has been limited.

The mechanisms by which technology has been transferred have suffered from a range of problems. Pitching funding at the appropriate level in relation to a countries institutional capacity has proved particularly difficult to achieve.

Financial assistance to developing countries, which has proved successful in promoting sustainable practises but has only been on a small scale. Tackling widespread problems associated with fertilizer and pesticide application in developing countries has been fruitful. The Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Global facility provides financial support to national governments for strengthening farmer driven participation. In addition the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) sponsors 9 Asian countries to develop community based involvement in IPM practises. Stakeholder involvement approaches, which aim to educate the population, have proved more sustainable.

The International Maritime Organisation, (IMO) is the body primarily responsible for the implementation of the provisions relating to sea-based pollution. Many of the activities listed have been achieved in some form or another in the last decade, which is due in part to the �sound� existing framework, which was in place prior to the agenda.

Shipping � Conventions and Protocols Level of success: Medium

To combat this problem, IMO has developed a Technical Co-operation Programme, which has been successful in a number of areas such as the establishment and upgrading of national maritime administrations, the creation of regional networks of maritime authorities and the development of regional port State control mechanisms. The Maritime Safety Committee of IMO considers a lack of trained and experienced personnel within national administrations to be the main reason for the lack of compliance by flag States with IMO regulations. The technical co-operation programme has helped to address this issue, however problems still remain - in part due to the varying degrees of expertise within maritime institutions globally.

Since 1981, oil pollution from ships has decreased by 60% from 1.47 million tons a year to 0.59 million tons. This is an indication that effective steps are being taken to reduce pollution from shipping. Improved safety standards have also led to a fall in the number of major, accidental pollution incidents. The number of spills over 700 tonnes at the end of the 1980s was only a third of the total a decade earlier.

The issue of air pollution has been high on the agenda of the Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC), an IMO body, since 1988. In its Resolution A.179 (17) the IMO Assembly requested that MEPC, in co-operation with MSC, develop standards for reducing the use and consumption of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, as well as provisions to reduce air pollution emanating from ship machinery and cargo handling operations. A new draft annex to the MARPOL Convention was also to be prepared on these issues (Nollkaemper, 1993)

There is concern that if the introduction of the new Annex VI to MARPOL is unduly delayed this could encourage a confusing explosion of different local control measures by coastal states. To date, only two countries have ratified Annex VI, and the International Chamber of Shipping is encouraging ratification in the hope of securing the required number of government signatories before the IMO target of January 2003.

Since 1973, slow progress has been made in addressing this issue, and it was only in 1991 that MEPC adopted regulatory measures aimed at minimising the risk of the introduction of unwanted organisms. This came in the form of International Guidelines, which Prevent the Introduction of Unwanted Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens from Ships� Ballast Water and Sediment Discharges. It has always been clear that these guidelines would not conclusively solve the problem as any progress is impeded by the apparent absence of advances in ballast water management and treatment processes. Steps are being taken to develop and improve compliance with the guidelines, possibly by creating a new annex to the MARPOL Convention. The IMO have also established a Global Ballast Water Management Programme.

This is now seen as the last safety net for maritime safety and a way for coastal states to exercise better control of their waters, through the exclusion of substandard shipping. Since the publication of Agenda 21, there have been many improvements to this regime. The Paris Memorandum of Understanding, signed in 1978 has been joined by a number of further MOUs, thus increasing global coverage of this system. This is necessary if PSC is to be a viable tool in the eradication of substandard shipping and the reduction of accidents at sea.

With the adoption of the 1995 Standards of Training and Certification of Watch-keeping for Seafarers, (STCW �95), seafarers are required to achieve a standardised level of training globally. The system operates on a certification basis, thus enhancing the professional standards of sea-going personnel, with a view to raising navigational safety, and reducing accidents at sea due to inexperience and lack of training. These standards entered into force in 1997.

IMO have also revised Chapter V of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention, concerning navigational safety. This is planned for entry into force in 2002 and the new rules will apply to many more ships than at present. Vessels will be required to carry new electronic aids for navigation purposes and the chapter will also include new regulations addressing so called �human element� issues, including bridge design, equipment layout, bridge procedures, navigational practice and voyage planning.

At its 61st session in December 1992, MSC established a Joint IAEA/IMO/UNEP Working Group, which agreed to a draft code that should not be confined to irradiated nuclear fuel (as envisaged by A21) but should also cover plutonium and high-level radioactive wastes. (Nollkaemper, 1993). This is very much a precautionary approach. Since 1993, two codes have been adopted, one by IMO (Dangerous Goods Code) and the second by the IMO/United Nations Environment Program/IAEA (Code of Practice for the Safe Carriage of Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Plutonium and High Level Radioactive Wastes in Flasks on Board Ships 1993).

This issue will remain on IMO's agenda well into the next millennium. Many nations have not succeeded in providing port waste reception facilities, for visiting ships, including those countries who have accepted commitments as signatories to the MARPOL Convention. To date, a universally acceptable system has not been devised, however some countries have adopted the 'no special fee' principle, whereby the cost of using reception facilities is assimilated into normal port dues. The IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) has produced a set of guidelines designed to remind governments of their obligations to provide the reception facilities needed by ships to meet their own corresponding obligations under MARPOL. The European Commission is working on a directive to establish mandatory obligations both on ships and on ports, with penalties for non-compliance.

In 1992, IMO adopted a Protocol to Amend The International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage 1971, IMO 1992.