Distr.
LIMITED

A/C.2/51/L/2

Fifty-first session
SECOND COMMITTEE
Agenda item 12

REPORT OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

Institutional arrangements for the implementation of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities

Note by the Secretariat

By its resolution 1996/1 of 11 July 1996, the Economic and Social Council recommended to the General Assembly the adoption of a draft resolution entitled "Institutional arrangements for the implementation of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities". The text of the draft resolution is reproduced below.

"Institutional arrangements for the implementation of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities

"The General Assembly,

"Recalling the relevant provisions of Agenda 21, 1/ in particular chapters 17, 33, 34, 38 and other related chapters, and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, 2/

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l/ Report of the United Nations conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992, vol. I, Resolutions Adopted by the Conference (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.93.I.8 and corrigendum), resolution 1, annex II.

2/ Ibid., annex I. _

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"Recalling also its resolution 50/110 of 20 December 1995 on the report of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme, in which it endorsed, inter alia, Governing Council decision 18/31 on the protection of the marine environment from land-based activities,

"Noting the successful conclusion of the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt a Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities, which was held in Washington, D.C., from 23 October to 3 November 1995,

"Having considered the Washington Declaration on Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities 3/ and the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities, 4/ as well as the proposal of the United Nations Environment Programme on institutional arrangements and implementation of the Global Programme of Action and relevant recommendations of the Commission on Sustainable Development,

"1. Endorses the Washington Declaration on Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities and the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities;

"2. Stresses the need for States to take the necessary measures for the implementation of the Global Programme of Action at the national and, as appropriate, the regional and international levels;

"3. Also stresses the need for States to take action for the formal endorsement by each competent international organization of those parts of the Global Programme of Action that are relevant to their mandates and to accord appropriate priority to the implementation of the Global Programme of Action in the work programme of each organization;

"4. Further stresses the need for States to take such action at the next meetings of the governing bodies of the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the International Maritime Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and in the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the relevant bodies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, as well as in other competent international and regional organizations within and outside the United Nations system;

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3/ A/51/116, annex I, appendix II.

4/ Ibid., annex II.

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"5. Further stresses the need for international cooperation, as outlined in sections IV.A and B of the Global Programme of Action, in capacity-building, technology transfer and cooperation, and the mobilization of financial resources, including support, in particular for developing countries, especially the least developed countries, countries with economies in transition and small island developing States, and to this end calls upon bilateral donors and international, regional and subregional financial institutions and mechanisms, including the Global Environment Facility, and other competent development and financial institutions to:

"(a) Ensure that their programmes give appropriate priority for country-driven projects aimed at the implementation of the Global Programme of Action;

"(b) Assist with capacity-building in the preparation and implementation of national programmes and in identifying ways and means of funding them;

"(c) Improve their coordination so as to enhance the delivery of financial and other support;

"6. Invites non-governmental organizations and major groups to initiate and strengthen their actions to facilitate and support the effective implementation of the Global Programme of Action;

"7. Requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme to prepare, for the consideration of the Governing Council at its nineteenth session, specific proposals on:

"(a) The role of the United Nations Environment Programme in the implementation of the Global Programme of Action, including the relevant role of its Regional Seas Programme and Freshwater Unit;

"(b) Arrangements for secretariat support to the Global Programme of Action;

"(c) Modalities for periodic intergovernmental review of progress in implementing the Global Programme of Action;

"8. Calls upon the United Nations Environment Programme, within its available resources, and with the aid of voluntary contributions from States for this purpose, to take expeditious action to provide for the establishment and implementation of the clearing-house mechanism referred to in the Global Programme of Action, and requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme to prepare and submit to the Governing Council at its nineteenth session specific proposals on, inter alia:

"(a) The establishment of an inter-organizational group to develop the basic design and structure of the clearing-house data directory and its linkages to information delivery mechanisms;

"(b) The means of linking the inter-organizational group to ongoing work within the United Nations system on the identification of and access to relevant databases and the comparability of data;

"(c) The outline of a pilot project on the development of the clearing-house's source category component on sewage, to be implemented in partnership with the World Health Organization;

"9. Calls uponStates, in relation to the clearing-house mechanism, to take action in the governing bodies of relevant intergovernmental organizations and programmes so as to ensure that these organizations and programmes take the lead in coordinating the development of the clearing-house mechanism with respect to the following source categories, which are listed in conjunction with the relevant organization(s) and/or programme(s) but not in order of priority:

"(a) Sewage - the World Health Organization;

"(b) Persistent organic pollutants - the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals, the International Programme on Chemical Safety and the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety;

"(c) Heavy metals - the United Nations Environment Programme in cooperation with the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals;

"(d) Radioactive substances - the International Atomic Energy Agency;

"(e) Nutrients and sediment mobilization - the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

"(f) Oils (hydrocarbons) and litter - the International Maritime Organization;

"(g) Physical alterations, including habitat modification and destruction of areas of concern - the United Nations Environment Programme;

"10. Decides to determine, at its special session to be held in June 1997 in accordance with its resolution 50/113 of 20 December 1995, specific arrangements for integrating the outcomes of periodic intergovernmental reviews, as envisaged in paragraph 7 (c) above, in the future work of the Commission on Sustainable Development related to the monitoring of the implementation of and follow-up to Agenda 21, in particular chapter 17."