Regulatory Frameworks

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
Previous International Initiatives to Address POPs
International Law Legal and Institutional Framework for the Protection of the Marine Environment

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (May 2001)

Read the text of the POPs Convention at UNEP Chemicals home page.

Previous International Initiatives to Address POPs

Global and Regional Agreements

•UNEP Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment, 1995. (pdf file)

•UNECE, United Nations European Commission for Europe, LRTAP POPs Protocol, 1998.
The Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, (LRTAP), was agreed in Geneva, on 13 November 1979. There are seven Protocols to the 1979 Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. One of those is the Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants, done at Aarhus (Denmark), on 24 June 1998.

Regional Seas Conventions

•Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1992 (entry into force Jan. 2000).
•The OSPAR (Oslo-Paris) Convention, Convention for the Protection of the Marine environment of the North-East Atlantic, 1998. The OSPAR Convention comprehends the initiatives taken in the framework of the:

• Conference to Protect the North Sea;
• Oslo-Paris Convention (North-East Atlantic).
  The Oslo Treaty came into force in 1974 and banned the dumping of certain wastes, such as mercury, cadmium and persistent plastics, in the North Sea. The Oslo Treaty has similar black lists and grey lists to the London Convention of substances that are banned from dumping. The treaty was signed by the governments of Belgium, Denmark, France, the
  former West Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. Three North Sea Conferences were subsequently organised. At the first, in 1984, it was agreed that the phasing out of the use and discharge of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) should be stepped up, that wastes including sewage sludge, should not be dumped in the North Sea and that
  specified hazardous waste should come under more stringent control. In 1987, at the second conference, it was agreed to reduce by half discharge of "substances that are toxic, persistent and liable to bioaccumulate" by 1995. Restrictions on the use of marine incineration and the dumping of sewage sludge were also agreed. At the third conference, in 1990, the eight signatories to the original treaty and Switzerland had agreed to stop dumping sewage sludge at sea, but the UK said it would only phase this out by 1998.(Source: WRIGHT).
  

•Barcelona Convention (Mediterranean), 1975.
•Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS), 1991.
PAME, The Programme for the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment, was initially one of the four programmes of the Arctic Environment Protection Strategy (AEPS) which was adopted by Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and United States through a Ministerial Declaration at Rovaniemi, Finland in 1991. But the PAME Working Group was established in 1993. In 1996 AEPS was overtaken by the Arctic Council.

Other Regional Agreements

•NAFTA/NACEC Resolution (3 POPs).
•Canada/USA Great Lakes Agreement.

International Law Legal and Institutional Framework for the Protection of the Marine Environment

"...4. International law, as reflected in the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and elsewhere, sets forth rights and obligations of States and provides the international basis upon which to pursue the protection and sustainable development of the marine and coastal environment and its resources.

5. In accordance with general international law, while States have the sovereign right to exploit their natural resources pursuant to their environmental policies, the enjoyment of such right shall be in accordance with the duty to protect and preserve the marine environment. This fundamental duty is to protect and preserve the marine environment from all sources of pollution, including land-based activities. Of particular significance for the Global Programme of Action are the provisions contained in articles 207 and 213 of UNCLOS.

6. Also of particular importance for the Programme of Action is the emphasis, in parts XII, XIII and XIV of the Convention, dealing, respectively, with protection and preservation of the marine environment, marine scientific research and the development and transfer of marine technology, on the obligation of States to cooperate in the development of the marine scientific and technological capacity of developing States and to provide them with scientific and technical assistance.

7. The duty of States to preserve and protect the marine environment has been reflected and elaborated upon in numerous global conventions and regional instruments (e.g. the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter; Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal; Convention on Biological Diversity; United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; Regional Seas Conventions; International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78), etc.). Innovative new principles and approaches applicable to the prevention of the degradation of the marine environment from land-based activities have been included in a number of such agreements.

8. In 1982, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) took the initiative to develop advice to Governments on addressing impacts on the marine environment from land-based activities. This initiative resulted in the preparation of the Montreal Guidelines for the Protection of the Marine Environment Against Pollution from Land-based Sources in 1985.

9. The duty to protect the marine environment from land-based activities was placed squarely in the context of sustainable development by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992..." From the GPA, Global Program of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land Based Activities.

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