"The marine environment is facing challenges that, if not addressed immediately and effectively, will have profound implications for sustainable development," warned United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan as the world prepares to mark World Environment Day 2004 on Saturday. "Wanted! Seas and Oceans: Dead or Alive?" is the theme of this year's activities.
World Environment Day, commemorated each year on June 5 is one of the main methods the United Nations uses to stimulate worldwide awareness of the environment and enhance political attention and action.
The central international celebrations of World Environment Day 2004 will be held in Barcelona, Spain in close collaboration with the Universal Forum of Cultures. The message this year is that society can no longer view the world's seas as a convenient dumping ground for our waste, or as an unlimited source of plenty.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (Photo courtesy UN)
"The world's seas and oceans are becoming increasingly tainted by untreated waste water, airborne pollution, industrial effluent and silt from inadequately managed watersheds," Annan said in his World Environment Day message. "Nitrogen overload from fertilizers is creating a growing number of oxygen-starved "dead zones" in coastal waters across the globe."
"Marine litter is killing up to a million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals and turtles each year," he said.
"Moreover, despite the growing reach and intensity of commercial fishing operations, total global fish catch is declining. Nearly three quarters of world fish stocks are being harvested faster than they can reproduce."
"With more than 40 percent of the human population already living within 60 kilometers (40 miles) of a coast, and the proportion growing, these problems are likely only to increase," predicted Annan.
New research released for World Environment Day shows that cold-water corals, that live deeper under the seas than the better known warm-water tropical corals, are far more widespread and numerous than had previously been thought.
They are threatened by deep-water fisheries like the orange roughy fishery, and also by impacts from oil and gas exploration and production, the laying of cables and telecommunications links and waste disposal.
Researchers, using the latest submersible technologies, are now discovering cold-water coral reefs in many of the world's seas and oceans, including the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.
Some, as the various individual reefs on the continental shelfs of the East Atlantic stretching from Norway as far south as West Africa, are when combined far bigger than more famous tropical ones such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
The full report, "Cold-Water Coral Reefs: Out of Sight- No Longer Out of Mind," will be published at an International Coral Reef Initiative meeting in Okinawa, Japan July 3 and 4 following the 10th International Coral Reef Symposium which opens on June 28.
Cold-water corals grow slowly - only a tenth of the growth rate of warm-water corals - and build fragile lacey structures, which are particularly vulnerable to impacts from heavy deep-sea fishing gear. Some reefs in the East Atlantic have already been destroyed, and most others show scars from trawling.
"There is an urgent need for concerted action, on land and sea, at the national, regional and international levels," the UN secretary-general said, but the many treaties and action plans that already exist "are not being sufficiently implemented and enforced."
Dolphins leap in concert in the Gulf of Mexico. (Photo by Grady Tuell courtesy NOAA)
Less than two years ago, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, governments committed to time-bound goals to end unsustainable fishing practices, restore depleted fish stocks, establish a regular global assessment of the marine environment, and create a representative network of marine protected areas. "This last goal, to be achieved by 2012, is particularly important," Annan said.
At the most .5 percent of marine habitats are protected. By comparison 11.5 percent of the global land area is protected.
Studies show that protecting critical marine habitats, such as warm and cold water coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves, can dramatically increase fish size and quantity, with obvious benefits to large-scale commercial as well as local fisheries, Annan pointed out.
"On this World Environment Day," declared Annan, "I urge governments, businesses and individuals everywhere to show renewed respect for the seas and oceans from whence all life on earth originated. Let us all do our utmost to ensure that the world's most prolific natural resource is protected and sustainably managed for generations to come."
The secretary-general's message is echoed in two new books published this week by United Nations University Press.
Edited by Professors Norichika Kanie and Peter M. Haas, "Emerging Forces in Environmental Governance," makes the point that the numerous actors on the international environmental field need coordination by a new Global Environmental Organization.
The book says the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is overstretched, with a large mandate but relatively little funding and personnel. It recommends that UNEP focus on science and coordination of scientific activities throughout the UN system, overseeing the monitoring of environmental conditions, and providing authoritative information to the international community.
A new Global Environmental Organization would create and utilize a World Environment Court, a UN Environmental Security Council with binding enforcement powers, and expansion of the UN Security Council mandate to include environmental security.
The UN Security Council can already act in cases of armed conflict which arise because of environmental or resource depletion, but it is unclear whether it does or should have the mandate to act, for example, when there are environmental threats to peace and stability.
The book says the new global environmental institution would help consolidate and coordinate environmental policy research, technology databases, and information clearing-houses, conduct training, and centralize the secretariats that administer global environmental agreements.
The General Assembly of the United Nations at New York Headquarters (Photo courtesy UN)
A Global Environmental Organization could serve as a legal advocate for environmental protection and regulations to counterbalance the WTO by collecting a roster of international environmental lawyers to participate in World Trade Organization panels.
Also called for is the creation of an international High Commissioner for the Environment and an NGO watchdog to monitor state and industry compliance with multilateral environmental treaties, similar to Amnesty International.
Authors of a second book issued by United Nations University Press explore like themes, including the need for improving compliance with and enforcement of international environmental laws.
"Reforming International Environmental Governance: From Institutional Limits to Innovative Solutions," edited by W. Bradnee Chambers and Jessica F. Green, says environmental conditions worldwide are worsening despite a proliferation of treaties and organizations.
Chambers says the book aims at fundamental questions about how institutions can most effectively address global environmental problems.
"Even though governments have complained a lot about the problem, they have offered no solutions except the status quo," he says. "The basic question to ask ourselves is why, after witnessing a proliferation of international organizations, hundreds of treaties, new agencies and new environmental programmes in every relevant UN organization, nevertheless we see the environment getting worse, not better."
The agenda of World Environment Day, says UNEP, is to give a human face to environmental issues; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development; promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.
World Environment Day is a people's event with street rallies, bicycle parades, green concerts, essays and poster competitions in schools, tree planting, as well as recycling and cleanup campaigns.
For a partial list of Saturday's activities log on to: http://www.unep.org/wed/2004/Around_the_World/index.asp
