EU Presidency Statement - UNICPOLOS - Item 3

General Assembly, United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea Seventh Meeting, Item 3, General exchange of views on areas of concern and actions needed, including on issues discussed at previous meetings; Statement by Dr. Thomas Loidl, Austrian Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the European Union.

The EU welcomes the focus on ecosystem approaches in oceans management at this year's ICP. We are convinced that the discussions during this week will contribute to a better understanding of the concept of ecosystem approaches and its implications for an enhanced management of oceans.

There is a need for the international community to address the issue of an ecosystem based approach in oceans management in view of the growing pressures on marine ecosystems and mounting evidence of actual destruction. The declining state of marine ecosystems around the world indicates that management changes are needed. An ecosystem approach to oceans management is essential to achieving sustainable development given the role that the oceans play in supporting life, driving the climate and hydrological cycles, and providing vital resources to ensure well being, economic prosperity, the eradication of poverty and food security.

In our view the ecosystem approach can be seen as enabling the integrated management of human activities based on the best available science about ecosystems, ecological interactions and the precautionary principle, in order to achieve the sustainable use of goods and services and the maintenance of ecosystem integrity (i.e. structure and function).

Ecosystems in the oceans are interconnected and there is an urgent necessity to consider ways to systematically integrate and improve management of all human activities that affect or risk adversely affecting marine resources and ecosystems.

The ecosystem approach requires adaptive management to deal with the complex and dynamic nature of ecosystems and the absence of complete knowledge or understanding of their functioning. Management must be adaptive in order to be able to respond to such uncertainties and contain elements of "learning-by-doing" or research feedback.

UNCLOS is the basic legal framework for all oceans activities. Already the preamble of UNCLOS indicates that "the problems of ocean space are closely interrelated and need to be considered as a whole" and according to the basic principles on the protection and preservation of the marine environment, all areas of the oceans require protection from all sources of degradation, as well as the adoption of special measures for rare or fragile ecosystems and for habitats of depleted, threatened or endangered species and other forms of marine life.

The EU also recognises the very important work on the ecosystem approach carried out under the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as the significance of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement and the work taken forward by organisations such as the IMO and FAO, e.g. through its Code of Conduct, the ISBA and various regional entities. In that context we would like to highlight the leading role of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in the development of an ecosystem based approach to fisheries management in the Southern Ocean.

The EU has already made commitments to apply and further develop ecosystem approaches to management of human activities impacting on the marine environment, inter alia, within the Convention on Biological Diversity and at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The North Sea States and the European Commission reinforced their undertakings at the International Conferences for the Protection of the North Sea, and have agreed on a conceptual framework for an ecosystem approach. Others such as the HELCOM and OSPAR Contracting Parties have made similar further commitments. To deliver this integrated approach, the North Sea states are working on a pilot project to develop a system of ecological quality objectives. These will show whether the marine environment is healthy and sustainable. In the Mediterranean, many of the components of the so-called "Barcelona-System", and especially the 1995 Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity, can become useful tools to implement the ecosystem approach.

Several organisations or international mechanisms of universal or regional and sub-regional nature are competent to regulate different types of human activity that have an effect on marine environment and its ecosystems (such as fishing, navigation and mining for instance). However, existing mechanisms provide governance structures that are largely sectoral in nature as they address only specific activities, specific species or specific geographical areas. It should be noted, however, that RFMOs have an obligation to take ecosystem considerations into account and to protect biodiversity in the marine ecosystem. Some of the RFMOs are not yet fulfilling all the roles assigned to them by the Fish Stocks Agreement and the membership of some of them do not yet comprise all States fishing in their areas of application.

In applying an ecosystem approach to oceans management we can, in our view, build on the already widely used concept of integrated oceans management. The EU has recognised that there is scope for improving our internal policy coherence by further integrating sustainability goals into EU policies. Reforms of the Common Fisheries Policy of the EU for example will lead to the progressive implementation of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management that respects safe biological limits and requires the application of the precautionary approach in taking measures to protect and conserve living marine resources.

The European Commission has adopted a comprehensive "Thematic Strategy on the Protection and Conservation of the Marine Environment", which potentially form the environmental pillar of the future Maritime Policy of the EU, with the overall aim of promoting sustainable use of the seas and conserving marine ecosystems.

This strategy will set out the actions required to ensure that all human activities with an impact upon the oceans and seas are managed so that marine biological diversity and important habitats are conserved and use of them is sustainable. It will apply to activity in the seas around Europe but will also address the impact that the EU makes on the rest of the worlds oceans and seas and it will potentially guide the development and implementation of the ecosystem approach across Union policy and action, drawing on existing work in other fora.

A green paper on a proposal for a future maritime policy was adopted by the European Commission on 7 June 2006 to define an integrated and comprehensive maritime policy based on scientific research to effectively manage uses of the seas and explore their potential for growth without impairing the marine ecosystem.

There are several factors which in our view are important to take into account when developing and implementing an ecosystem based approach to oceans management. An essential step is to develop ecosystem objectives in order to help establish appropriate sustainable management regimes and set measurable objectives for key components of ecosystem health. Effective impact assessments, monitoring and the use of integrationist processes and tools such as integrated coastal zone management and marine protected areas are also important.

Governance within national jurisdiction and in areas beyond national jurisdiction will need to be coherent and compatible and without prejudice to the rights and obligations of coastal states under international law in order for an integrated and ecosystem approach to be effective.

What is further needed is a cooperative rather than a competitive agenda as well as states acting coherently in different international fora.

While recognising the respective mandates of each organisation, the EU stresses the need for cooperation as appropriate to ensure that relevant global and regional instruments and bodies enhance and fully utilize their capacity to effectively implement the existing legal instruments that respond to key threats to marine ecosystems, including the establishment of marine protected areas and the application of the ecosystem approach.

Marine protected areas and the fulfilment of the WSSD goal to establish a global representative network of MPAs by 2012 in our view have an important role in an ecosystem based oceans management as they provide a basis to overcome the largely sectoral management and help to address the full scale of threats to marine ecosystems in a holistic manner.

Given that the existing legal framework is largely of a sectoral nature, which does not allow for an integrated impact assessment of human activities on the marine ecosystem, or for an overarching framework for the establishment of marine protected areas, the EU is of the opinion that in areas beyond national jurisdiction we are facing a "governance gap".

The EU therefore reiterates its call for the development of an agreement to implement the provisions contained in UNCLOS on the protection and preservation of the marine environment which will provide for the conservation and management of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, including the establishment, based on science and the precautionary principle, of marine protected areas. The EU's position on the implementation agreement was set out in some detail at the meeting of the ad hoc open ended Working Group on marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction last February here in New York. And in this respect the EU would also like to recall that the CBD at its 8th Meeting of States Parties has invited the General Assembly to decide at its 61st session to establish a timely follow-up process.

The EU acknowledges with great satisfaction that there exists a broad consensus on urgent action as referred to in §§ 66 to 69 of UNGA Resolution 59/25 to address destructive practices and to protect marine biodiversity and particularly vulnerable ecosystems. These are important short term measures. The EU is of the view that these short term measures should include the better implementation of existing relevant obligations, increased adherence to existing international instruments and strengthening existing bodies in the interest of the protection of marine biodiversity. The EU remains fully supportive of the initiatives undertaken in this field by UNGA and is committed to carry forward the review established under § 71 of UNGA Resolution 59/25.

Furthermore the EU calls for urgent action to halt destructive practices affecting vulnerable marine ecosystems and for the consideration on a case-by-case basis and on a scientific basis, including the application of the precautionary approach, of the interim prohibition of destructive fishing practices, including bottom trawling that has adverse impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems until such a time as appropriate conservation and management measures have been adopted in accordance with international law.

In concluding let me reiterate that we embrace the ecosystem based approach in oceans management because we thereby hope to tackle the many issues that have been inadequately addressed to date by conventional sectoral management. National and regional experiences and commitments to implement an ecosystem based approach provide an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate the transition to a sustainable use, conservation and development of marine ecosystems. It is a challenge to all of us. Let us not loose the momentum as this could result in irreversible damage to marine and coastal ecosystems.

| Arriba |

• EU Presidency Statement - UNICPOLOS - Cooperation and Coordination  (15/6/2006)
• Calendar of Austrian Presidency January - June 2006 (1/1/2006)
• Austrian EU-Presidency Priorities 2006 (1/1/2006)
• Directory of the Austrian Mission to the United Nations (1/1/2006)