Seas and Oceans

The objective of the Convention, adopted in 1982 and entered into force in 1994, is to regulate all matters relating to the law of the sea and to establish a legal regime for the seas and oceans that facilitates international communication and promotes the peaceful uses of the seas and oceans, the equitable and efficient utilisation of their resources, the conservation of their living resources, and the study, protection and preservation of the marine environment.

The Convention sets out:

• the corresponding legal regimes in the different parts of the oceans;
• the rights and obligations of coastal Countries with regard to the establishment and management of waters under their sovereignty or jurisdiction;
• the rights and obligations of other Countries (including landlocked and geographically disadvantaged Countries) in those areas;
• the freedom of the high seas for all Countries (including landlocked countries);
• the obligations upon flag Countries;
• the rules on the conservation and management of the living resources of the seas, also with respect to cooperation for the management and exploitation of shared fish stocks;
• the rules on the exploitation of mineral resources from the seabed;
• the responsibilities of Coastal States in closed or semi-enclosed seas;
• the rules for the protection and conservation of the marine environment, including requirements for undertaking environmental impact assessment and requirements for States on the prevention and control of marine pollution and their liability arising from failure to prevent it;
• the rules for conducting scientific marine research;
• the rules for capacity building and transfer of marine technology.

Following the approval of the Convention, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea Trust Fund was established, a fund which supports States with the payment of legal expenses for cases brought before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Source: United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

The Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was established in 1975 by the Mediterranean Governments as the first regional action plan under the UNEP Regional Seas Programme with the objective of promoting regional collaboration to combat marine pollution and to foster integrated planning and sustainable use of marine resources. The main legal instrument of the MAP is the ‘Convention on the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution’, which was signed in February 1976 in Barcelona and entered into force in February 1978.

In 1995, the MAP was re-launched as the ‘Action Plan for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Sustainable Development of the Coastal Areas of the Mediterranean’ and the Barcelona Convention was reformulated as the ‘Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Area of the Mediterranean’ with the incorporation of the key principles adopted at the 1992 Rio Conference, the abandonment of the sectoral approach to pollution assessment and control, and the extension of the scope to integrated coastal zone planning and management, sustainable use of marine and coastal resources and biodiversity conservation in order to contribute to sustainable development.

Over time, the Convention has been supplemented by seven Protocols addressing different aspects of the marine and coastal environment and resource protection and management.

• Dumping protocol: on the Prevention of pollution of the Mediterranean Sea due to Dumping caused by ships and aircraft;
• LBS protocol: on the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution caused by land-based sources;
• SPA protocol: related to special protected areas and biodiversity of the Mediterranean area;
• Prevention and emergency protocol: related to the cooperation in the fight against pollution of the Mediterranean Sea caused by crude oil and other toxic substances when environmental emergency events occur;
• Offshore protocol: on  the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution caused by the exploration and exploitation of the continental shelf, the seabed and its subsoil;
• Hazardous wastes protocol: covers on the prevention of pollution of the Mediterranean Sea due to the transboundary movement and disposal of hazardous wastes;
• ICZM protocol: covers on the integrated management of the coastal zones of the Mediterranean area.

The 22 Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention are: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Türkiye and European Union.

The Governance Structure involves a Coordinating Unit with the mission to to promote and facilitate the implementation of the Barcelona Convention, its Protocols and Strategies, and of the Decisions and Recommendations of the Contracting Parties.

Moreover, seven Regional Activity Centers have been set up:

• The Mediterranean Pollution Assessment and Control Programme (MED POL) based at the Coordinating Unit in Athens, Greece;
• The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) based in Valletta, Malta;
• The Plan Bleu Regional Activity Centre (PB/RAC) based in Marseille, France;
• The Priority Actions Programme Regional Activity Centre (PAP/RAC) based in Split, Croatia;
• The Specially Protected Areas Regional Activity Centre (SPA/RAC) based in Tunis, Tunisia;
• The Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP/RAC – MEDWaves) based in Barcelona, Spain;
• The Regional Activity Centre for Information and Communication (INFO/RAC) based in Rome, Italy.

Source: Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP)

The Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of Coastal and Marine Environment of the Western Indian Ocean, signed in Nairobi in 1985 and entered into force in May 1996, is a partnership among Governments, civil society and the private sector and aims at the sustainable development of the Western Indian Ocean Region of Africa by safeguarding rivers, coasts and seas. It provides the Contracting Parties with a mechanism for regional cooperation, coordination and collaborative action to address the interlinked problems of the coastal and marine environment of the Region.

The Contracting Parties of the Convention are: Comoros, France, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania and Republic of South Africa.

The Convention is supported by four protocols:

• Protocol for the protection of the marine and coastal environment of the Western Indian Ocean from land-based sources and activities;
• Protocol concerning protected areas and wild fauna and flora in the Eastern African Region;
• Protocol concerning co-operation in combating marine pollution in cases of emergency in the Eastern African Region;
• Protocol concerning the integrated management of coastal areas.

The Convention for co-operation in the protection, management and development of the marine and coastal environment of the West and Central African Region (Abidjan Convention) was signed  in 1981 and entered into force in 1984.

The Convention provides a framework for co-operation in the management of marine and coastal environments, knowledge management, environmental hazards, pollution, habitats, biodiversity, sustainable use of resources, and other activities that may have a negative impact on ecosystem health. The Convention promotes scientific and technological co-operation (including exchanges of information and expertise) as a means for identifying and managing environmental issues.

The Contracting Parties are: Benin, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Republic of South Africa and Togo

The Convention is supported by six protocols:

• Protocol on the integrated management of coastal areas;
• Protocol on the sustainable management of mangroves;
• Protocol on the environmental legal provisions and standards regarding offshore exploration and exploitation activities for crude oil and gas;
• Protocol on co-operation for the protection and development of the marine and coastal environment from land-based sources and activities (LBSA) of the West, Central and Southern Africa region;
• Protocol on cooperation in the fight against pollution in cases of emergency in the West and Central Africa region.

The Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) was launched by UNEP in 1976 within the context of the Regional Seas Programme with a view to acknowledging the diversity of the region and outlining a shared vision to promote economic prosperity and environmental health. The CEP has worked on five main themes:

• Land-based sources of waste and urban, industrial and agricultural wastewater;
• Over-exploitation of marine resources (fish, shellfish and crustaceans);
• Urbanisation and uncontrolled coastal development associated with population and economic expansion;
• Non-sustainable agricultural and forestry practices;
• Environmental governance.

The plan was adopted by twenty-two Sstates and led to the development of the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (‘Cartagena Convention’), which was adopted in 1983 and entered into force in October 1986. The Convention is the only legal instrument of its kind in the wider Caribbean Regions and also recognises the importance and value of the Region’s fragile and vulnerable coastal and marine ecosystems, including endemic plants and animals.

The Contracting Parties are: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, France, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, United States of America and Venezuela.

The Convention is supported by three protocols:

• Protocol concerning co-operation in combating oil spills in the Wider Caribbean Region;
• Protocol concerning specially protected areas and wildlife of the Convention for the protection and development of the marine environment of the Wider Caribbean Region;
• Protocol concerning pollution from land-based sources and activities.

On 16 June 1993, Pacific leaders came together to formally establish the South Pacific Region Environmental Programme (SPREP), mandated to support the Member States’ work to address the region’s environmental challenges. SPREP is a partnership of 26 Member States spread over thousands of kilometres of ocean that share common elements of culture, history and environment. Fourteen are Pacific Island countries, seven are territories and five are metropolitan states with a direct interest in the region.

Twelve SPREP members are signatories to the Noumea Convention (adopted in 1986 and entered into force in 1990) and to both protocols adopted under the Convention: Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, France, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, USA.

Aimed at protecting the marine and coastal environment of the East Asian seas for the health and well-being of present and future generations, the Action Plan for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment and Coastal Areas of the East Asia Region was adopted in April 1981 and revised in 1994.

The Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) is a regional intergovernmental mechanism bringing together nine countries (Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Viet Nam) in development and protection of the marine environment and coastal areas of East Asian Seas.

The activities are focused on:

• Fighting against marine and land-based pollution;
• Marine and coastal planning and management;
• Sharing of experiences and policies regarding the marine environment towards a stronger regional governance.

COBSEA is administered by the UN Environmental Programme and the Secretariat is hosted by Thailand.

To address environmental threats of a transboundary nature that require regional cooperation to identify their causes, effects and coordinated management actions such as marine pollution, over-exploitation of marine resources and overfishing, the ‘Programme for the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA)’ was initiated in 1974, in collaboration with the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation (ALECSO) and the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In 1982, the Programme was strengthened by the signing of the Jeddah Convention, formally entitled ‘Regional conventions for the conservation of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden’. The Jeddah Convention expresses in clear terms the commitment and political will of the governments of the region to protect and preserve the marine and coastal environments of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden through joint and coordinated efforts. The provisions of the Jeddah Convention aim at the protection of the coastal and marine environment from pollution and the rational management of living marine resources.

The Contracting Parties of the Jeddah Convention are: Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

On 19 June 2023, after more than 15 years of negotiations, the United Nations approved the text of a treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Adopted within the framework of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the so-called High Seas Treaty is an international agreement of historic significance that, by extending environmental protection for the first time to the two-thirds of the ocean that lie beyond national jurisdictions, aims to protect life in the high seas and to remedy the degradation of marine and ocean ecosystems that are increasingly threatened by human activity, climate change, pollution and unsustainable use of marine resources.

The High Seas Treaty, however, offers not only the opportunity to protect aquatic species more effectively because, by interconnecting ecosystems, it also allows for the protection of water ecosystems under national jurisdiction and the services they provide to local communities who draw resources from them to support their economies. The Treaty offers all Member States the opportunity to strengthen, through new governance structures, multilateral coordination in the management of marine resources and to promote new forms of international co-operation and collaboration directed towards a global and shared effort to conserve and protect marine environments.

In the context of the High Seas Treaty, however, the international community is called upon to act on several fronts.

The Treaty will enter into force upon ratification by at least 60 States.