Nairobi, 1 April
2010 - Ministers and representatives of
the 10 African countries sharing the Western
Indian Ocean have signed a strategic new
agreement to protect their marine environment.
They have devised a 25-year programme of
action aimed at ensuring efficient management
of the marine and coastal environment in
the larger Eastern and Southern African
region.
The Nairobi Convention
for the Protection, Management and Development
of the Marine and Coastal Environment of
the Western Indian Ocean has also been amended
to take into account new provisions on emerging
issues such as climate change and the need
for an ecosystem-based management approach.
UN Under-Secretary-General
and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner
said: "The adoption of this important
agreement signals a long process coming
to fruition and sets a bright future for
the Nairobi Convention. Thanks to the engagement
and dedication of the parties to the Nairobi
Convention, we can ensure that the unique
ecosystems of the Western Indian Ocean can
deliver sustainable development and well-being
to the 60 million people who live and depend
on its resources."
With the signing of
the final agreement, the Western Indian
Ocean region becomes one of the three regional
seas in the world to have a regional agreement
focused on the control of land-based activities
degrading and or polluting the marine waters
of the region. The other regions with a
similar agreement include the Wider Caribbean
and the Mediterranean Sea.
The President of the
Conference of the Plenipotentiaries, Mr.
Sateeaved Seebaluk of Mauritius said: "There
is a great sense of achievement to see the
positive conclusion of this process which
has had its hard times, but a lot of progress
has been made. Today, the Convention of
Nairobi is one the successful convention
in this part of the world."
The Indian Ocean, which
is globally recognised for its unique biological
richness and natural beauty, is one of the
few remaining undisturbed areas of the world
oceans with diverse ecosystems that provide
invaluable goods and services to the growing
population of the region. The economic value
of the goods and services provided by these
Western Indian Ocean marine ecosystems is
estimated to be over 25 billion US Dollar,
with fisheries and tourism as the two main
direct contributors to the economies of
the countries in the region.
However, countries sharing
the Western Indian Ocean are now facing
serious challenges related to the sustainable
management of the coastal and marine environment.
The action programme will address challenges
related to increasing pollution of coastal
waters, the destruction and degradation
of critical habitats, changes in freshwater
flow as well as challenges resulting from
global climate change.
In addition, the agreement
is expected to bind the governments towards
a common objective of managing pollution
from land-based sources and activities in
order to protect and sustain the marine
and coastal environment in the Western Indian
Ocean.
Notes to Editors:
The 6th COP to the Nairobi
Convention, organized from 29 March to 1
April 2010 by UNEP in close collaboration
with the Government of Kenya as the host,
and the Government of Mauritius as the Chair
of the Bureau of the Convention, was held
under the theme 'Sustaining Progress'.
The Conference brought
together Ministers responsible for the environment
and other government delegates from all
ten Contracting Parties to the Nairobi Convention,
along with international and regional experts,
representatives of international, regional,
national and local non-governmental organizations
and members of civil society.
The project entitled
Addressing land-based activities in the
Western Indian Ocean (referred to as "WIO-LaB"
in short) addresses some of the major environmental
problems and issues related to the degradation
of the marine and coastal environment resulting
from land-based activities (LBA) in the
Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. It represents
a strong partnership between the countries
of the WIO Region, the Norwegian government,
UNEP, and the GEF and is designed to serve
as a demonstration project for the Global
Programme of Action for the Protection of
the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities
(GPA/LBA). For more details please visit:
http://www.wiolab.org/
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson/Head of
Media
Remarks by Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson
on Low Carbon Asia
+ More
Groundbreaking Environmental
Assessment Kicks Off in Nairobi
Nairobi, 01 April 2010
- The world's most comprehensive and inclusive
environmental assessment process started
in Nairobi this week, as over two hundred
government representatives institutions
and experts discussed and adopted the objectives,
scope and process for the next Global Environment
Outlook-5 (GEO-5 Report), to be released
in 2012.
Since the initial 1992
Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, global concern
for environmental and developmental issues
has increased, leading to an extensive range
of internationally agreed environmental
and development goals. However, progress
towards meeting these goals has in many
cases, been slow. There has also been a
marked deterioration and degradation of
the planet's natural resources and increasing
demands from a burgeoning global population.
GEO-5 will provide an
assessment of the state, trends and outlook
of the global environment to understand
where we are in relation to meeting these
goals. It will also analyze policy options
to identify those that could help speed
up the achievement of these goals.
GEO-5 will build on national,
regional and global assessments and reports,
as well as peer reviewed scientific literature.
Co-chair of the meeting,
Mr. Martijn Dadema said "We're excited
to have agreed on the nature and ambition
of this important report. Its findings should
be the litmus test for future action and
achievements to stop the degradation and
wasteful use of our planet's natural resources.
GEO 5 will be a blueprint determining humanity's
future. We hope that the report will have
a major input into the Rio+20 decision-making
process in 2012".
"A large part of
GEO-5's remit will be to assist with capacity
building to conduct environmental assessments
and policy analysis" said Peter Gilruth,
Director of the UNEP Division of Early Warning
and Assessment.
Next steps include nominations
of experts by governments and other stakeholder
groups including collaborating centers.
The final Statement which outlines the adopted
objectives, scope and process for GEO-5
is available on the GEO page (www.unep.org/geo)
Ministers Launch Rejuvenated Nairobi Convention
to Protect the Western Indian Ocean's Environment
