Emanating from the 7th ICM Meeting celebrated in March 2020
From 18 to 20 March 2020 the Members and Secretariat of the CLME+ Interim Coordination Mechanism (ICM) for integrated Ocean Governance in the wider Caribbean convened for a 7th time. In light of the ongoing novel coronavirus crisis, the meeting was held via teleconference.
In times where the whole planet is being tremendously challenged, meeting participants jointly acknowledged and underscored, now even more than ever, the crucial importance of duly protecting and sustainably managing the living marine resources and marine environment, as a critical resource base to support region-wide socio-economic development: healthy seas will allow coastal states to rebound, faster and better, whenever disasters strike - be those a consequence of climate change or the current global pandemic.
Bringing together 10 Inter-Governmental Organizations with an oceans-related mandate, the meeting discussed, among other matters:
- the creation of a permanent facility to provide long-term support towards oceans-based sustainable development in the wider Caribbean
- a collaborative Work Plan for 2020
- the further development of the online “CLME+ Hub” as the common, collaborative Knowledge Management Platform for ocean-positive action in the wider Caribbean
In November 2017, the following organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish an “Interim Coordination Mechanism for the Sustainable Management, Use and Protection of shared Living Marine Resources in the Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems”, in short, the “CLME+ SAP ICM” or “ICM”:
- United Nations Environment Programme represented by the Cartagena Convention Secretariat;
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on behalf of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC);
- Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, (UNESCO-IOC);
- Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS);
- Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM)
- Central American Fisheries and Aquaculture Organisation (OSPESCA);
- Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD);
- Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
The Chair of the ICM is IOCARIBE, with the Cartagena Convention Secretariat acting as the Co-Chair. Operations of the ICM are supported by the UNDP/GEF CLME+ Project. The UNOPS Project Coordination Unit of the CLME+ Project currently acts as the ICM Secretariat.
The aforementioned MOU defines the status, core functions and objective of the ICM, with the focus of the latter being to enhance regional collaboration, support oversight and integration of actions for sustainable fisheries and for the protection and sustainable use of the marine environment.
The 7th Meeting of the CLME+ SAP ICM:
- Reaffirmed their commitment to implementing a programmatic, collaborative and well-coordinated approach towards the up-scaling of action on the living marine resources and marine environment, in support of the politically endorsed 10-year CLME+ Strategic Action Programme (2015-2025)
- Agreed to support ongoing and emerging efforts to ensure greater collaboration and synergies among national, sub-regional and regional ocean-related projects, to reduce overlap and duplication, and to ensure maximum benefits to the countries and peoples of the region
- Adopted the CLME+ Hub (www.clmeplus.org) as their common regional platform of reference, and promote its further development and wide-spread use
- Agreed to support the ongoing efforts to consolidate and institutionalize the regional coordination mechanism
Under the UNDP/GEF CLME+ Project, the UNEP Cartagena Convention Secretariat is providing technical support in the execution of activities, including the development of reports for the Wider Caribbean Region on the State of Marine Pollution and the State of Marine Habitats.
For more information on the CLME+ ICM and the CLME+ Initiative, and the work of its Members, we invite you to regularly visit: www.clmeplus.org as well as the ICM Member websites.
Contact:
Patrick Debels, Regional Coordinator, UNDP/GEF CLME+ Project & ICM Secretariat
PatrickD@unops.org. +57 3168315033
