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ARCTIC SEA – Negotiating New Agreement on Marine Oil Pollution Response
July 18, 2012
The Task Force, mandated by the Nuuk Declaration at the 2011 Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Nuuk, Greenland* to prepare an international instrument on Arctic marine oil pollution preparedness and response, held its forth meeting** from 18 to 20 June 2012 in Helsinki, Finland.
The Meeting, chaired by Co-Chair, Ambassador Karsten Klepsvik (Norway) with the assistance of the two other Co-Chairs, Ambassador David Balton (USA) and Ambassador Anton Vasiliev (Russia), underlined the importance of Arctic cooperation in the field of environmental protection and oil pollution response, especially now when the economic activities in the Arctic seas are increasing.
The Task Force has agreed to propose a legally binding intergovernmental agreement. The proposal is programmed to be ready for translation into French and Russian by the end of 2012 and, then, the translations will be distributed for domestic deliberations during the spring of 2013. According to the mandate, the Task Force should present the result of its negotiations at the Arctic Council’s Ministerial Meeting in May 2013.
So far, the work of the Task Force has made good progress, although some important issues are still open.
The legally binding agreement will probably have a few legally non-binding appendices. One appendix will contain an operative manual that probably will be developed and updated in close cooperation with the Arctic Council’s working group on Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR). Another appendix will list some fields for cooperation and exchange of available information between the Parties of the agreement.
The next meeting of the Task Force will be held in Reykjavik 9-11 October 2012. Before this meeting, a couple of working groups will facilitate its work by continuing the development of recommendations or best practices in the prevention of marine oil pollution and the planning for the operational manual for the Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic.
Notes
* In 1996, the Ottawa Declaration formally established the Arctic Council as a high-level intergovernmental forum to provide a means for promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, with the involvement of the Arctic Indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues and in particular, issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.
The Arctic Council consists of the eight Arctic States: Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Six international organizations representing Arctic Indigenous Peoples have permanent participant status.
** The first three meetings of the Task Force were held in Oslo, Norway in October 2011, in St.Petersburg, Russia in December 2011 and near Anchorage, Alaska, USA in March 2012.
MEPIELAN Centre is an international research, training and educational centre established by Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos at the Panteion University of Athens in 2008.
Before its establishment as a University Centre, MEPIELAN operated as a successful international research, training and informational programme (2002-2007) under the scientific direction of Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos and the aegis of the Panteion University of Athens, supported by the Mediterranean Action Plan/UNEP and the Greek Ministry of the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works.
MEPIELAN Centre is an accredited UNEP/MAP PARTNER (since 2013), a Member of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD) (since 2016), and a Member of the Steering Committee of the MCSD (since 2019).
On 22 May 2022, MEPIELAN Centre proceeded to the development of MEPIELAN as a Non- Profit Civil Organization (INGO) for the more effective and efficient advancement of its Goals and Missions and furtherance of its activities. MEPIELAN Centre as a Non- Profit Civil Organization (INGO) is registered in Greek Law (Hellenic Business Registry, Reg. No. 16477300100) in accordance with Laws 4072/2012 & 4919/2022 as applicable
The 79th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 79) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) was convened from 12 to 16 December 2022 at IMO Headquarters in London. On 15 December 2022 MEPC 79 adopted the drafted amendments and formally designated the Mediterranean Sea, as a whole, as an Emission Control Area (ECA) for Sulphur Oxides and particulate matter under regulation 14 of Annex VI to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) in an effort to halt the air pollution from ships.
On November 29, 2022, Tunisia, under Decree No 2022/917, ratified the ICZM Protocol becoming the 13th Contracting Party bound by the relevant provisions. Signed in January 2008 in Madrid by 15 Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and entered into force on March 24, 2011, following the sixth ratification of the Protocol by the Syrian Arab Republic, the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Protocol constitutes the first regional, legally binding regulatory instrument concerning coastal zone management.
