Institutional arrangements

By their nature, marine systems frequently extend beyond political borders and ocean problems usually involve more than one dimension and more than one source. International law, particularly the formulation of legal agreements between nations with commonly shared resources, therefore can provide a powerful tool for regulating access to those resources and for controlling activities with potentially destructive impacts on the environment.

 

Several international agreements and a series of regional and national agreements are directly relevant to the conservation of marine biodiversity. These include agreements to regulate pollution resulting from maritime activity, control trade in endangered marine species, curb the hunting of endangered whales, protect coastal sites of universal value, trace the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems, and deal with pollution from land-based activities.

 

The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Regional Seas Programme at present includes 14 regions and has over 140 participating coastal States and Territories. In addition, three non-UNEP regional seas (Arctic, OSPAR for the North-East Atlantic, and HELCOM for the Baltic) are independent partners of the Regional Seas Programme. All these programmes are conceived as action-oriented. They are concerned not only with the consequences but also with the causes of environmental degradation. They promote comprehensive approaches to combating such problems through sound management of marine and coastal areas. Each regional action plan is formulated according to the needs of the region as perceived by the Governments concerned. The action plans promote the parallel development of regional legal framework agreements and of action-oriented programme activities.