The
Assembly took note of the report of the Secretary-General
on the question of Antarctica (A/57/346)
and the role accorded to UNEP in preparing
his report, and recalled that States carrying
out research activities in Antarctica should
make their findings available to the international
community. The Assembly welcomed the invitations
to the Executive Director of UNEP to attend
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings in
order to assist such meetings in their substantive
work, and urged the parties to continue to
do so. The practice whereby the Antarctic
Treaty Consultative Parties regularly provided
the Secretary-General with information was
welcomed, and he was requested to submit a
report to the Assembly at its sixtieth session.
In accordance with
General Assembly resolution
57/33 of 19 November
2002, two days of plenary meetings were devoted
to the consideration of ‘Oceans and the law
of the sea’and the commemoration of the twentieth
anniversary of the opening for signature of
the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Subsequently,
on 12 December 2002, the Assembly adopted
resolution
57/141 entitled ‘Oceans
and the law of the sea’. The Assembly reaffirmed that the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea sets
out the legal framework within which all activities
in the oceans and seas must be carried out.
The Assembly recognized the important role
that the competent international organizations
have in relation to ocean affairs, in implementing
the Convention and in promoting the sustainable
development of the oceans and seas.
The
Assembly welcomed the outcome of WSSD, and
recalled, inter
alia, the essential role of international
cooperation and coordination in promoting
the integrated management and sustainable
development of the oceans and seas. Underlining
the essential need for capacity-building to
ensure that all States, especially developing
countries, are able both to implement the
Convention and to benefit from the sustainable
development of the oceans and seas, the Assembly
emphasized the need to strengthen the ability
of competent international organizations to
contribute, at the global, regional, subregional
and bilateral levels, to the development of
national and local capacity in marine science
and the sustainable management of oceans and
their resources.
The Assembly took
note of the report of the Secretary-General,
and emphasized the critical role of the annual
comprehensive report, which constitutes the
basis for the annual consideration and review
of developments relating to ocean affairs
and the law of the sea by the Assembly. The
Assembly also took note of the report on the
work of the UN Open-ended Informal Consultative
Process (the “Consultative Process”) at its
third meeting.
The
General Assembly welcomed the Plan of Implementation,
adopted at WSSD and the commitments set out
therein for actions at all levels, within
specific periods for certain goals, to ensure
the sustainable development of the oceans,
including sustainable fisheries, the promotion
of the conservation and management of the
oceans, the protection of the marine environment
from pollution, and the improvement of scientific
understanding and assessment of marine and
coastal ecosystems as a fundamental basis
for sound decision-making. The
Assembly urged relevant bodies of the UN system
to develop, with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
(IOC) acting as a focal point and, where
appropriate, other competent organizations,
appropriate interactions in the field of marine
science with regional fisheries organizations,
environmental and scientific bodies or regional
centres and encourages States to strengthen
existing centres and to establish, where appropriate,
such regional centers.
The
Assembly reiterated its call, in line with
the WSSD Plan of Implementation, for reviews
by the relevant international organizations
of the efforts to build capacity in order
to identify the gaps that may need to be filled
for ensuring consistent approaches, both nationally
and internationally, in order to implement
the Convention and chapter 17 of Agenda 21.
The Assembly called upon UNEP, working within
the Global
Resource Information Database (GRID) system
for data and information management, to expand
on a voluntary basis the capacity of existing
GRID centers to store and handle research
data from the outer continental margin, on
a basis to be mutually agreed with the coastal
State, and complementary to existing regional
data centres, giving due regard to confidentiality
needs and in accordance with Part XIII of
the Convention, and making use of existing
data management mechanisms under the IOC and
International
Hydrographic Organization (IHO), with
a view to serving the needs of coastal States,
and in particular developing countries and
small island developing States, in their compliance
with article 76 of the Convention.
The
Assembly emphasized the importance of the
implementation of Part XII of the Convention
in order to protect and preserve the marine
environment and its living marine resources
against pollution and physical degradation,
and called upon all States to cooperate and
take measures, directly or through competent
international organizations. The Assembly
called upon States to continue to prioritize
action on marine pollution from land-based
sources as part of their national sustainable
development strategies and programmes, in
an integrated and inclusive manner, as a means
of implementing the Global Programme of Action for
the Protection of the Marine Environment from
Land-based Activities (GPA). The Assembly
also called upon States to advance the implementation
of the GPA and the Montreal
Declaration on the Protection of the Marine
Environment from Land-based Activities,
to enhance the protection of the marine environment
from pollution and other physical impacts,
and to improve the scientific understanding
and assessment of marine and coastal ecosystems
as a fundamental basis for sound decision-making
through the actions identified in the Johannesburg
Plan of Implementation.
The
Assembly further invited all relevant UN agencies
to review individually their arrangements
for collecting information and data relevant
to the marine environment and for ensuring
the quality of such data, using to the fullest
possible extent what is available at the regional
level, and to consider collectively how to
ensure that the resulting information and
data sets provide, within the constraints
of existing resources, an acceptably consistent,
coherent and comprehensive basis for international
decision-making. It further decided to establish
by 2004 a regular process under the UN for
the global reporting and assessment of the
state of the marine environment, including
socio-economic aspects, both current and foreseeable,
building on existing regional assessments,
and requested the Secretary-General, in close
collaboration with Member States, relevant
organizations and agencies and programmes
of the UN system, including UNEP and the Secretariat
of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to
prepare proposals on modalities for a regular
process for the global reporting and assessment
of the state of the marine environment, drawing,
inter alia, upon the work of UNEP pursuant
to Governing Council
decision 21/13, and taking into account
the recently completed review by the Joint
Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects
of Marine Environmental Protection, and to
submit these proposals to the Assembly at
its fifty-eighth session for its consideration
and decision, including on the convening of
a possible intergovernmental meeting.
The
Assembly encouraged States to ratify or to
accede to international agreements to prevent,
reduce, control and eliminate pollution from
ships, dumping, the carriage of hazardous
and noxious substances, anti-fouling systems
on ships and persistent organic pollutants,
as well as agreements that provide for compensation
for damage resulting from marine pollution.
It noted with deep concern the extremely serious
damage of an environmental, social and economic
nature brought about by oil spills as a result
of recent maritime accidents which have affected
several countries; and therefore called upon
all States and relevant international organizations
to adopt all necessary and appropriate measures
in accordance with international law to prevent
catastrophes of this kind from occurring in
the future.
The Assembly invited
States to cooperate at the regional level
to develop regionally shared goals and timetables
in pursuance of the GPA, including through
regional seas conventions. The Assembly also
called upon States to take measures for the
protection and preservation of coral reefs
and to support international efforts in this
regard, in particular those outlined in decision
VI/3
adopted by
the Conference of the Parties to the CBD
at its sixth meeting , held
at The Hague from 7 to 19 April 2002, and
to develop national, regional and international
programmes for halting the loss of marine
biodiversity, in particular fragile ecosystems,
and to accelerate the development of measures
to address the problem of invasive alien species
in ballast water.
The
Assembly called upon States to promote the
conservation and management of the oceans
in accordance with chapter 17 of Agenda 21
and other relevant international instruments,
to develop and facilitate the use of diverse
approaches and tools, including the ecosystem
approach, the establishment of marine protected
areas consistent with international law and
based on scientific information, including
representative networks by 2012 and time/area
closures for the protection of nursery grounds
and periods, proper coastal and land use and
watershed planning, and the integration of
marine and coastal areas management into key
sectors. The Assembly encouraged relevant
international organizations, inter
alia, UNEP, and the Secretariat of the
CBD, with the assistance of regional and subregional
fisheries organizations, to consider urgently
ways to integrate and improve, on a scientific
basis, the management of risks to marine biodiversity
of seamounts and certain other underwater
features within the framework of the Convention.
The
Assembly emphasized the importance of regional
organizations and arrangements for cooperation
and coordination in integrated oceans management,
and, where there are separate regional structures
for different aspects of oceans management,
such as environmental protection, called for
those different structures, where appropriate,
to work together for optimal cooperation and
coordination.
The
Assembly reaffirmed its decision to undertake
an annual review and evaluation of the implementation
of the Convention and other developments relating
to ocean affairs and the law of the sea, and
welcomed the work of the Open-ended informal
consultative process on oceans and the law
of the sea (UNICPOLOS), and noted its contribution
to strengthening the Assembly’s annual debate
on oceans and the law of the sea, and decided
to continue with the Consultative Process
for the next three years, with a further review
of its effectiveness and utility at the sixtieth
session. The Secretary-General was requested
to convene the meeting of the Consultative
Process in New York from 2 to 6 June 2003.
It was recommended that the Consultative Process
organize its discussions around (a) protecting
vulnerable marine ecosystems, and (b) safety
of navigation.
