Cartagena
Convention • Caribbean Regional Co-ordinating Unit
The
Convention
for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment
of the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena
Convention) was adopted 1983 and entered into force in 1986,
is a Convention for achieving sustainable development of marine
and coastal resources in the Wider Caribbean region through
effective integrated management that allows for increased
economic growth. The Convention covers the various aspects
of marine pollution for which the Contracting Parties must
adopt measures. Thus, the Convention requires the adoption
of measures aimed at preventing, reducing and controlling
pollution of the following areas: pollution from ships, pollution
caused by dumping, pollution from sea-bed activities, airborne
pollution, pollution from land-based sources and activities.
In addition, the Parties are requiered to take appropriate
measures to protect and preserve rare or fragile ecosystems,
as well as the habitat of depleted, threatened or endangered
species and to develop technical and other guidelines for
the planning and environmental impact assessments of important
development projects in order to prevent or reduce harmful
impacts on the area of application. Protocols to the Convention
include:
-
Protocol
Concerning Co-operation in Combating Oil Spills in the
Wider Caribbean Region (Oil
Spills Protocol), adopted 1983 and in force in 1986.
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Protocol
Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife to the
Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine
Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (SPAW
Protocol), adopted 1990 and in force in 2000.
.
-
Protocol
Concerning Pollution from Land-based Sources and Activities
to the Convention for the Protection and Development of
the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (LBS
Protocol), adopted 1999.
CAR/RCU:
The
Caribbean Regional Co-ordinating Unit (CAR/RCU)
located in Kingston, Jamaica, acts as Secretariat for the
Convention and the CEP. The objectives of the Secretariat
are to provide assistance to all countries of the region;
strengthen national and subregional institutions; o-ordinate
international assistance; and stimulate technical co-operation
among countries.
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Caribbean
Environment Programme
The
Caribbean
Environment Programme (CEP) was established in 1983 under
the UNEP Regional Seas Programme by the diverse states and territories
of the Wider Caribbean to collectively address the protection
and development in the coastal area. The
CEP contains four sub-programmes:
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Caribbean
Action Plan
The
Caribbean
Action Plan emerged as a result of many years of work by
governmental and non-governmental representatives of the Caribbean
community, assisted primarily by UNEP. The programme objectives
embraced by the Caribbean Action Plan, which was adopted in
1981, include the following:
-
Assistance to all countries of the region, recognizing
the special situation of the smaller islands;
-
Co-ordination of international assistance activities;
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Strengthening existing national and subregional institutions;
-
Technical co-operation in the use of the region's human,
financial and natural resources.
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Organisation
of East Caribbean States
The
mission of the Organisation
of East Caribbean States (OECS) is to "be a major institutional
player at the regional level, contributing to the sustainable
development of our member countries by assisting them to maximise
the benefits from their collective space, by facilitating their
intelligent integration with the global economy; by contributing
to policy and program formulation and execution in respect of
regional and international issues, and by facilitation of bilateral
and multilateral co-operation".
The
OECS Waste Management Programme assists Member States to address
the management of waste, with a particular focus on solid
waste. Assistance is provided to Member States in waste characterization,
and in the design and procurement of waste reduction, recycling,
composting and disposal systems and technologies. These services
are provided primarily with respect to municipal, ship-generated
and biomedical wastes, but also for other wastes such as used
oil.
Harmonized
policies and legal frameworks have been developed for management
of shore-generated wastes and for ship-generated wastes through
the OECS Solid and Ship Generated
Waste Management Project, funded by The World Bank and
the Global Environmental Facility (GEF).
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Global
Environment Facility (GEF) International Waters Projects
Sustainable
Management of the Shared Marine Resources of the Caribbean Large
Marine Ecosystem (CLME) and Adjacent Regions (Barbados,
Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico, Venezuela). The executing agency of this
(not yet approved) project will be the IOCARIBE, the regional
subsidiary body of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
(IOC), responsible for the promotion, development and co-ordination
of IOC marine scientific research programmes, the ocean
services, and related activities in the Caribbean and Adjacent
Regions. The specific objectives of the project are:
- To
identify, analyze and agree upon major transboundary issues,
root causes and actions required to achieve sustainable
management of the shared living marine resources in the
Caribbean Sea LME;
- To
improve the shared knowledge base so that sustainable use
and management of
transboundary living marine resources will be possible;
- To
implement legal, policy and institutional (SAP) reforms
regionally and nationally to achieve sustainable transboundary
living marine resource management;
- To
develop an institutional and procedural approach to LME
level monitoring, evaluation and reporting for management
decisio-nmaking.
Integrated
Watershed and Coastal Area Management in Small Island Developing
States of the Caribbean (IWCAM). This project is being developed
under the Project Development Facility of GEF. UNEP is the lead
GEF Implementing Agency, in collaboration with UNDP. UNEP-CAR/RCU
is co-executing this project with the Caribbean
Environmental Health Institute (CEHI), on behalf of the
13 small island developing states of the Wider Caribbean Region.
A
Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis and Strategic Action Programme
for the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem (Mexico and
Cuba). The implementing agency of this (not yet approved) project
will be UNIDA.
The project will address the transboundary concerns of the countries
bordering the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem. These will
be defined in the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis and prioritised
in the Strategic Action Programme. The main objective of the
project will be to build the capacity and initiate governmental
and institutional arrangements for planning and implementing
region-wide efforts to address critical ecosystem and environmental
problems in the LME. The full project is expected to assist
in the implementation of the SAP: 1. policy, legal, institutional
reforms related to habitat loss; 2. management of living resources;
and land-based sources of pollution; conduct on-the-ground area-specific
demonstrations related to the three priority problems (above)
plus their relation to fluctuating climatic regimes and vulnerability
to storm events; and 3. establish an institutional arrangement
for co-operation among the three nations sharing the LME.
OECS
Solid and Ship Generated Waste Management Project, funded
by The World Bank and GEF. The
aim of the that project (now completed) has been to reduce the
amount of garbage generated in homes and businesses, and improve
the collection and disposal of such garbage in the OECS countries
and of ship-generated solid waste. The project has recognised
that the marine environment is heavily polluted with garbage,
which threatens marine life, as well as being unsightly when
it washes up on the beaches of tourism dependent countries of
the region. Though much of that garbage originates from ships,
a large percentage is derived from land-based sources which
border the Caribbean Sea. |
UNEP
Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC)
UNEP
Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC)
seeks to further UNEP's global mandate of providing leadership
in and promoting joint efforts for environmental care, and encouraging,
informing and building the capacity of nations and peoples to
improve their lives without endangering that of future generations.
ROLAC also serves as the Secretariat of the Forum
of Environmental Ministers for Latin America and the Caribbean
(Foro
de Ministros de Medio Ambiente de América Latina y el
Caribe). |
UN
Economic Commissioin for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
The
objective of the UN
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
(ECLAC) is to contribute to the economic development of Latin
America, coordinate actions directed towards this end, and reinforce
economic relationships among the countries and with the other
nations of the world. ECLAC is also to promote the region's
social development. |
Caribbean
Conservation Association
The
Caribbean
Conservation Association (CCA) "exists
to enhance the quality of life for present and future generations
of the Caribbean by facilitating the development and implementation
of policies, programmes and practices, which contribute to the
sustainable management of the region's natural and cultural
resources. We do this through a membership that covers the wider
Caribbean amongst non-governmental organisations, within government
structures and by individuals interested in voicing civil society's
concern for the state of the environment in the Caribbean region."
National links are provided to member organizations in Anguilla,
Antigua, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Br. Virgin Islands, Cayman
Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Gudadelope, Guyana, Jamaica, St.
Kitts/Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent & the Grenadines,
Trinidad and Tobago, the U.S. and U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Agreements