MONTREAL DECLARATION ON THE PROTECTION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT FROM LAND-BASED ACTIVITIES

(Adopted by the Intergovernmental Review Meeting on the Implementation of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities at its first meeting on Friday, 30 November 2001)

1. WE, THE REPRESENTATIVES OF 98 GOVERNMENTS, WITH THE VALUED SUPPORT AND CONCURRENCE OF DELEGATES FROM INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, THE PRIVATE SECTOR, NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS, OTHER STAKEHOLDERS AND MAJOR GROUPS, MEETING IN MONTREAL, CANADA, FROM 26 TO 30 NOVEMBER 2001, FOR THE FIRST INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVIEW MEETING ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GLOBAL PROGRAMME OF ACTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT FROM LAND-BASED ACTIVITIES, 

AGREE AS FOLLOWS;

2. WE ARE CONCERNED THAT:

(a) The marine environment is being increasingly degraded by pollution from sewage, persistent organic pollutants, radioactive substances, heavy metals, oils, litter, the physical alteration and destruction of habitats, and the alteration of timing, volume and quality of freshwater inflows with resulting changes to nutrient and sediment budgets and salinity regimes;

(b) The significant negative implications for human health, poverty alleviation, food security and safety and for affected industries are of major global importance;

(c) The social, environmental and economic costs are escalating as a result of the harmful effects of land-based activities on human health and coastal and marine ecosystems and that certain types of damage are serious and may be irreversible;

(d) The impacts of climate change on marine environments are a threat
to low-lying coastal areas and small island States due to the increased degradation of the protective coastal and marine ecosystems;

(e) Greater urgency is not accorded to taking action at the national and regional levels for meeting the objectives of the Global Programme of Action.

3. W E ARE CONCERNED also about the widespread poverty, particularly in coastal communities of developing countries, and the contribution that the conditions of poverty make to marine pollution through, for example, lack of even basic sanitation; and how marine degradation generates poverty by depleting the very basics for social and economic development.

4. WE ACKNOWLEDGE that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Agenda 21 provide the key framework for implementing the Global Programme of Action.

5. W E DECLARE that implementation of the Global Programme of Action is primarily the task of national Governments. Regional seas programmes also play an important role in implementation and both should include the active involvement of all stakeholders.

6. WE SHALL COOPERATE to improve coastal and ocean governance for the purpose of accelerating the implementation of the Global Programme of Action, by mainstreaming, integrating coastal area and watershed management, and enhancing global, regional and national governance
processes.

7. W E SHALL ALSO COOPERATE to identify new and additional financial resources to accelerate the implementation of the Global Programme of Action, by building capacity for effective partnerships among Governments, industry, civil society, international organizations and financial institutions, and by making better use of domestic and international resources. 

Mainstreaming of the Global Programme of Action

8. WE COMMIT ourselves to improve and accelerate the implementation of the
Global Programme of Action by:

(a) Incorporating the aims, objectives and guidance of the Global Programme of Action into new and existing activities, action programmes, strategies and plans at the local, national, regional and global levels and into sectoral policies within our respective jurisdictions;

(b) Strengthening the capacity of regional seas organizations for multi-stakeholder
cooperation and action, including through participation in partnership meetings focused on concrete problem identification and solution;

(c) Supporting the ratification of existing regional seas agreements and development of additional ones, as appropriate, and promoting collaboration between existing regional seas organizations, including through twinning mechanisms; 

(d) Calling on the United Nations agencies and programmes and international financial institutions to incorporate, where appropriate, the objectives of the Global Programme of Action into their respective work programmes, giving priority in the period 2002-2006 to addressing the impacts of sewage, physical alteration and destruction of habitats and nutrients on the marine environment, human health, poverty alleviation, food security and safety, water resources, biodiversity and affected industries;

(e) Calling upon regional seas programmes in light of assessments of their marine environment to:

(i) Identify priorities with particular regard to those set out in paragraph 8 (d) above;

(ii) Prepare action plans to address the implementation of those priorities and work, as appropriate, with national authorities to implement those plans;

(iii) Produce interim reports on the carrying out of these action plans with a view to completing full reports at the time of the next Global Programme of Action review.

Oceans and Coastal Governance

9. WE FURTHER COMMIT ourselves to improve and accelerate the implementation of the Global Programme of Action by:

(a) Taking appropriate action at the national and regional levels to strengthen institutional cooperation between, inter alia, river-basin authorities, port authorities and coastal zone managers, and to incorporate coastal management considerations into relevant legislation and regulations pertaining to watershed management in particular transboundary watersheds;

(b) Strengthening the capacity of local and national authorities to obtain and utilize sound scientific information to engage in integrated decision-making, with stakeholder participation, and to apply effective institutional and legal frameworks for sustainable coastal management;

(c) Strengthening regional seas programmes to play a role in, as appropriate, coordination and cooperation: 

(i) In the implementation of the Global Programme of Action;

(ii) With other relevant regional organizations;

(iii) In regional development and watershed management plans;

(iv) With global organizations and programmes relating to implementation of global and regional conventions;

(d) Supporting this new integrated management model for oceans and coastal governance as an important new element of international environmental governance;

(e) Improving scientific assessment of the anthropogenic impacts on the marine environment, including, inter alia, the socio-economic impacts;

(f) Enhancing the state-of-the-oceans reporting to better measure progress towards sustainable development goals, informing decision-making (such as setting management objectives), improving public awareness and helping assess performance;

(g) Improving technology development and transfer, in accordance with the recommendations of the United Nations General Assembly.

Financing of the Global Programme of Action

10. We commit ourselves to improve and accelerate the implementation of the
Global Programme of Action by:

(a) Strengthening the capacity of local and national authorities with relevant financial and other resources to identify and assess needs and alternative solutions to specific land-based sources of pollution; and to formulate, negotiate and implement contracts and other arrangements in partnership with the private sector;

(b) Calling on international financial institutions and regional development banks and other international financial mechanisms in particular the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility, consistent with its operational strategy and policies, to facilitate and expeditiously finance activities related to the implementation of the Global Programme of Action at regional and national levels; 

(c) Giving due consideration to the positive and negative impacts of domestic legislation and policies, including, inter alia, fiscal measures, such as taxation and subsidies, on land-based activities degrading the marine and coastal environment;

(d) Taking appropriate action at the national level including, inter alia, institutional and financial reforms, greater transparency and accountability, the development of multi-year investment programmes and providing an enabling environment for investment.

Other provisions

11. We welcome the Strategic Action Plan on Municipal Wastewater and urge the United Nations Environment Programme to finalize this document as a tool for implementing the objectives of the Global Programme of Action. 

12. We call upon Governments to ratify the Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants, the 1996 Protocol to the London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter and other relevant agreements in particular regional conventions, such as the 1999 Aruba Protocol to the Cartagena Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region and protocols dealing with the prevention of pollution of the marine environment as a means of implementing the Global Programme of Action. We also stress the need for increased international cooperation on chemicals management.

13. We welcome also the work done by the Global Programme Coordination Office, commend its 2002-2006 work programme to the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme and encourage it to implement the programme at a strengthened level, subject to availability of resources.

14. We note the outcome of the first Intergovernmental Review of the Global Programme of Action as a valuable contribution to the implementation of Agenda 21.

We request that the next Global Ministerial Environment Forum endorse this outcome.

We commend the outcome to the attention of the Monterey International Conference on Financing for Development, as well as of the Third World Water Forum to be held in Kyoto, Japan in 2003. We request the preparatory process of the World Summit on Sustainable Development to take full account of the outcome of this meeting and the objective of the Global Programme of Action as it considers measures on protection of the marine environment.

15. We request the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme to convene the second Intergovernmental Review Meeting in 2006 and seek support for organizing the meeting.