|
||
| Part index |
This part consists principally of links to the texts of and information on the major agreements relating to marine pollution and the protection of the marine environment, although there is also a small collection of links to information on the UN Climate Change Convention and to some other items of information on climate change and the protection of the ozone. Links to information on other environmental issues affecting fisheries can be found on the next page. |
|
UN
Oceans and the Law of the Sea - Protection of the Marine Environment
Basic information on the UN
site on the development of this part of the Convention. Other documents on the
UN website include:
International
Maritime Organization
The IMO maintains a
massive website, with a variety of information, including:
 |
Conventions | ||||||
|
|
Legal | ||||||
|
|
Safety | ||||||
|
|
Marine environment | ||||||
|
|
NewsRoom,
including:
|
||||||
|
|
Meetings | ||||||
|
|
Publications | ||||||
|
|
Library
Directory of Maritime Links |
|
Literature on-line |
IMO
Interface with the Law of the Sea Convention
Paper by Agustín Blanco-Bazán, presented at the Seminar on current
maritime issues and the work of the IMO, January 2000
MARPOL
73/78 and Vessel Pollution: A Glass Half Full or Half Empty?
Article by Andrew Griffin in (1994) 1 Ind. J. Global Legal Stud.
489
International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973 as modified by the
Protocol of 1978
Text of MARPOL 73/78 from the Australian
Treaty Series.
London "Dumping Convention" Secretariat
|
|
Convention
on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter
1972 Text of the London Dumping Convention, maintained on the Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators Service site. |
|
|
1996
Protocol Available from the Tufts University Multilaterals Project site. |
|
|
1973 Protocol relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Marine Pollution by Substances other than Oil |
1969 Brussels International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage
|
|
1976 Protocol |
|
|
1984 Protocol |
|
|
1992 Protocol IGIFL is searching for a link: if you know of one, please mail the webmaster. |
 | 1976 Protocol |
| 1984 Protocol |
| 1992 Protocol IGIFL is searching for a link: if you know of one, please mail the webmaster. |
1954
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil
(Now largely superseded by MARPOL 73/78)
Greenpeace
Ocean Dumping Campaign
Informative pages from
Greenpeace,
containing material and documents on a range of topics.
Further links:
| Library Directory of Maritime Links |
| Mining Company Marine Pollution links |
| Heriot-Watt University Marine Pollution links page |
|
Regional agreements and arrangements |
The following section largely consists of links to some regional conventions and organizations on the marine environment and marine pollution. In most cases where the texts of treaties are not maintained on the sites of the relevant organizations, the texts are maintained on the Tufts University Multilaterals Project or ENTRI sites, the latter of which also provides some summary information.
|
|
Northeast Atlantic |
|
|
Baltic Sea |
|
|
Mediterranean |
|
|
Caribbean (Wider Caribbean Region) |
|
|
Other regions |
|
Northeast Atlantic (OSPAR) |
OSPAR
Commission
Website of the OSPAR Commission, which contains a variety of information,
including the text of the
Convention and other basic documents (including and the Strategies
and Action Plans and the
Rules of Procedure); information (and some documentation) on
meetings and a measures
section, from which OSPAR Decisions, Recommendations, Declarations and
other documents may be downloaded.
Other Northeast Atlantic agreements:
|
|
1972 Oslo Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping from Ships and Aircraft |
|
|
1974
Paris Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Land-Based
Sources Texts of the original conventions, now replaced by the 1992 Convention. |
|
|
1983
Agreement for Co-Operation in Dealing with Pollution of the North Sea by Oil
and Other Harmful Substances Replaces the 1969 Bonn Agreement for Cooperation in Dealing with Pollution of the North Sea by Oil |
|
|
International
Conferences on the Protection of the North Sea Useful website from the Norwegian Government on the North Sea Conferences, containing, amongst other things, background information on the Conferences, information and documents on Intermediate Ministerial Meetings and Documents from other meetings. The texts of the five Ministerial Declarations are also reproduced. |
|
Baltic Sea |
Baltic
Marine Environment Protection Commission
(Helsinki Commission)
The homepage of the HELCOM website, which contains a reasonable collection of
information on the Commission and its various committees, as well as a full list
of valid
recommendations and a Press
Info section.
|
|
Documents ("HELCOM Document Publishing System") |
|
|
HABITAT (Nature conservation and Coastal Zone Management Group) |
|
|
Programme Implementation Task Force (PITF) |
The
Baltic Sea ("Ballerina") Information Site
Large collection of information on matters relating to the
Baltic Sea environment. Includes information on the coastal States, regional
organizations, regional agreements, environmental issues, and regional
implementation of Agenda 21.
Baltic
21
Further information on Agenda 21 on the Baltic, from the Council
of Baltic Sea States.
Baltic
Sea Environment Home Page
Selection of information on the Baltic Sea environment and
environmental problems from Estonian
Ministry of Environment.
Environmental
Sites on the Internet: Baltic Sea Region
A collection of approximately 30 further
environment-related links on the Baltic Sea from a much larger collection of
links compiled by Larsgöran Standberg of the Swedish Royal Institute of
Technology.
|
Mediterranean Sea |
Mediterranean
Action Program
Home page for the Barcelona Convention containing a
variety of general information, including a detailed overview of the MAP and the
Barcelona Convention system. There is also a Download
page which contains downloadable files of
Reports of Meetings, Technical Report and other documents. From that page, the
Full texts of the Mediterranean
Action Plan, the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols in their current state can also be downloaded (Zip file, WordPerfect 6.1) as can
a document giving the current Status of the various instruments (Zip file, WP 6/7/8). The texts
are also available individually (all as Zip/WordPerfect files):
For copies of the original versions of the Convention and Protocols, try these links:
Regional
Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA)
Homepage of the MAP Activity Centre responsible for the
implementation of the SPA/Biodiversity Protocol; includes various information,
including the texts of the Monk
Seal, Marine
Turtles, and Cetaceans Action Plans.
Regional
Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC)
Includes a news
and a download section.
|
Wider Caribbean Region |
Caribbean Environment Programme (alternative link)
Website of the Secretariat of the Cartegena Convention. Contains a wide variety of information, including an Overview of the Caribbean Environment Programme; information on programmes such as, among others, AMEP (Programme for Assessment and Management of Environmental Pollution) and SPAW (Regional Programme on Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife); and information on issues, including: maintenance of biological diversity; land-based sources and activities of pollution; and coastal zone management. There is also a News page; an on-line archive of Technical Reports and Databases; and a List of links to other sources of Caribbean environmental information. On-line reproductions of the relevant legal instruments are also available:
Other institutions:
The
Regional Marine Pollution Emergency, Information and Training Center for the
Wider Caribbean Region (REMPEITC)
Useful website containing information on the status
of IMO marine pollution conventions in the region, a synopsis
of those conventions and a documents
section.
Economic
Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (CEPAL)
UN organization which promotes social and economic development and conducts
research on, inter alia, the environment.
Caribbean Community Secretariat (CARICOM)
For further links, try UNDP's list of Caribbean Links.
|
Other regional agreements |
Listed below are a number of links to Convention texts and other information on various other regional arrangements. Most of these are part of the UNEP Regional Seas Programme - basic information on all of the programmes is on the UNEP site.
Black Sea
Black Sea Environment Programme
Eastern Africa
Eastern Africa Environment Programme
|
|
Introduction | ||||
|
|
Legal Documents | ||||
|
|
Publications |
||||
|
|
1985 Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine
and Coastal Environment of the Eastern African Region ("Nairobi Convention")
|
||||
|
|
Abidjan Convention | ||||
|
|
Eastern Africa Action Plan Basic information and a few documents on the UNEP Regional Seas Programme site. |
East Asian Seas
East Asian Seas Action Plan
Basic information and a number of documents from this
Regional Seas Programme site.
|
|
UNEP GEF Project in the South China Seas |
Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA)
Kuwait Region
|
|
1978 Protocol |
|
|
1989 Protocol Concerning Marine Pollution Resulting from Exploration and Exploitation of the Continental Shelf |
Kuwait Action Plan
Basic information on the UNEP
Regional Seas Programme site.
Northwest Pacific
Northwest Pacific Action Plan
Basic information on the UNEP
Regional Seas Programme site.
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
1982 Regional Convention for the Conservation of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Environment
|
|
1982 Protocol Concerning Regional Cooperation in Combating Pollution by Oil and Other Harmful Substances in Cases of Emergency |
South Pacific
|
|
South Pacific Regional Environment Programme website Moderately useful website, which contains, among other things, an overview of the organization and a large number of publications, including reports and other documents. |
||||
|
|
1993 Agreement establishing the South Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP) | ||||
|
|
1986 Convention for the Protection of the Natural Resources and Environment
of the South Pacific Region
|
South-East Pacific
West and Central Africa
|
|
1981 Convention for Co-operation in the Protection and Development of the
Marine and Coastal Environment of the West and Central African Region
|
||
|
|
West and Central Africa Action Plan Basic information on the UNEP Regional Seas Programme site. |
Polar Regions
| Text of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty |
| Text of the 1964 Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora |
|
Text of the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty |
|
Antarctic Treaty An overview of the Antarctic Treaty System from the Yearbook of International Cooperation on Environment and Development. |
| The
Antarctica Project The Antarctica Project is a non-governmental organization which seeks to promote environmental objectives in decision-making under the ATS. |
|
The Antarctic Treaty System and the Impact of United Nations Debates Report from the US Congressional Research Service Reports series. |
| SCAR Website of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. |
|
Antarctica - The Environment An overview from the US National Science Foundation. |
| Mining Company's Antarctica links |
Arctic Council
Homepage of the Arctic Council website, which provides information on its
various programmes and the texts of the relevant Declarations and Founding
Documents.
Canadian
Arctic Resources Committee
Website of the CARC, a citizen's organization in Canada. Contains
information on Arctic living and non-living resources (although mainly the
latter), including on-line copies of the
Northern Perspectives journal and the
Diamond Alert bulletin.
Fourth Ministerial Conference on the Arctic Environmental Strategy, Alta 1997
Information on the 1997 Conference.
Bureau of Oceans and International Affairs: Arctic and Antarctic Policy
Various material from the US Department of State.
|
Other information |
|
Information on particular oil spills |
Oil
Spills
Overview of the major oil spill disasters from the
University of Southampton (UK).
The
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
An Alaskan site on the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Sea
Empress Oil Spill
Information from the University of Swansea (UK), School of Biological Sciences.
|
Port State control |
Paris
Memorandum Secretariat
Official website of the Paris MOU Secretariat, containing
various information, including the
text
of the Memorandum on Port State Control; the
Annual
Reports; and even a "Rustbucket
of the month" section!
Tokyo
MOU on Port State Control in the Asia-Pacific Region
Official site of the Tokyo MOU. Includes:
|
|
Memorandum of Understanding |
|
|
General information |
|
|
Members and observers |
|
|
Annual Report |
|
|
News and press releases |
|
|
Detention List |
Latin
American Agreement on Port State Control of Vessels (Vina del Mar Agreement)
Official site for the Vina del Mar Agreement. Contains a
comprehensive collection of information, including the text of the Agreement,
background information and a news section. Available in English.
US Coast Guard Port State Control homepage
|
|
Port State Information Exchange |
Port
State Control
Overview of the port State control concept on the University
of Cape Town site.
|
Climate change |
UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change
Full text of the Convention and Kyoto Protocol, as well as
information on signatures and ratifications. Maintained on the UNFCCC
Secretariat site (see next link).
UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change: Secretariat
Official website of the UNFCCC Secretariat. Contains lots
of useful information, including: a Beginner's
Guide to the Convention (a simple overview of the
Convention and climate change issues, provided by UNEP)
and a large collection of Official
Documents.
Official
Site of the Kyoto Conference
Contains various information on the Third Conference of
the Parties to the UN Convention.
CRS
Climate Change Reports
Index to reports on climate change published by the US
Congressional Research Service. The following reports are the main ones of
international interest:
 |
Global Climate Change (9/20/99) |
|
|
Global Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions About the Kyoto Protocol (11/24/1998) |
|
|
Global Climate Change Treaty: Summary of the Kyoto Protocol (7/23/99) |
|
|
Congressional Concern About 'Back Door' Implementation of the 1997 U.N. Kyoto Protocol (8/10/98) |
|
|
A Concise History of Negotiations and Chronology of Major Activities Preceding the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention (5/5/1998) |
|
|
Global Climate Change Treaty Negotiations and Related Issues (11/21/1997) |
|
|
International Environment: Current Major Global Treaties (11/5/1996) |
|
|
Global Climate Change: Adequacy of Commitments under the U.N. Framework Convention and the Berlin Mandate (10/25/1996) |
|
|
See also:
Global
Climate Change Briefing Book Briefing book containing information on international and national issues, comprising reports written to members of the US House of Representatives and Senate and other information. |
Linkages
Guide to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Guide to the Convention provided by the
Institute
of Sustainable Development. Includes a guide to the
Third
Conference of the Parties, Earth
Negotiation Bulletin Summaries of the Conference, including the full version
of Volume 12,
which covers the climate change negotiations and "The
Road to Buenos Aires" a guide to the negotiating process leading to the
Fourth COP.
Climate
Action Network (CAN)
The Climate Action Network is a network of over 250
environmental organizations from around the world, ranging from the major
international groups such as
Greenpeace
and the
WWF to smaller, more localised ones,
many of which are in developing countries. The website includes a variety of
information and includes ECO,
the Climate Action Network's newsletter at the international climate
negotiations.
Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change
Homepage of the IPCC - established in 1988 to assess
scientific, technical and socio-economic information on climate change.
NOAA
El Niño Pages
Award-winning site maintained by NOAA.
It contains an explanation
of the "El Niño-Southern Oscillation" system and
its effects on fisheries and an outline
of the impacts of El Niños (with lots of links) as
well as lots of other information.
The
1997 El Niño/Southern Oscillation
Up-to-date information on the 1997/1998 ENSO.
Global
Warming Central
Information on climate change provided by the Pace
Law School.
Its
About Time: Rethinking Fisheries Management
Full text of a presentation given by a fisheries scientist
at the Second World Fisheries Congress in Brisbane, Australia, in 1996.
Bibliography prepared by Wil Burns. Contains more than 2,000 citations, listed in html and pdf formats, relating to climate change and its impacts on flora and fauna species and critical supporting ecosystems.
Mining
Company's Climate Change links
Further links on this issue from the Mining
Company.
|
Ozone layer |
Ozone
Secretariat
Website of the Ozone Secretariat of UNEP. Contains various
information, including a regularly updated table giving the status of the various instruments; and press
releases, amongst other things. All the
relevant constituent instruments are also maintained on the website:
|
|
1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer |
|
|
1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer |
|
|
1990 London Amendment |
|
|
1992 Copenhagen Amendment |
|
|
1997 Montreal Amendment to the Montreal Protocol |
|
|
1999 Beijing Amendment |
Mining
Company's Ozone links
For further information on this issue, try this useful
list of links from the Mining Company.