Summary of the LBS COP Opening Ceremony
Kingston, Jamaica, 27th July 2021: The Fifth Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities (the LBS Protocol) began on Monday 26th July 2021 with a welcome by Mr. Christopher Corbin, Programme Officer, Assessment and Management of Environmental Pollution Sub-Programme, UNEP Cartagena Convention Secretariat, to over 80 delegates from contracting parties, observer countries, regional and international partners and agencies, and members of the media present.
This was followed by statements from His Excellency Orlando Jorge Mera, Minister of Environment of the Dominican Republic, Ms. Kerstin Stendahl, Head of the Ecosystems Integration Branch, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and Ms. Lorna Inniss, Principal Coordination Officer of the UNEP Cartagena Convention Secretariat.
His Excellency Orlando Jorge Mera, recognized the importance of the work of the Cartagena Convention and the LBS Protocol, stressing how important it is for countries which have not yet ratified it to do so, as it remains the only regional legally binding agreement for the protection and sustainable development of the Wider Caribbean Region. The Government of the Dominican Republic ratified the LBS Protocol in 2012 and he said, was honoured to have served both as a Chair and Vice Chair of previous Bureaus of Contracting Parties to the Protocol. The DR has benefited from several projects implemented through the Secretariat, most recently, the CReW+ Project on water and wastewater management. It was able to contribute water quality data to the first Regional State of Marine Pollution Report and more recently to the Regional Nutrients Pollution Reduction Strategy. Like many Small Island Developing States, they face serious challenges to maintain monitoring programmes for data generation and in mobilizing resources, especially in the face of competing issues such as unemployment and food security. For these reasons, the work of the Secretariat and the LBS Regional Activity Centres is particularly important, and the DR would continue its own efforts to update and implement several national policies, laws, strategies and action plans on marine pollution.
Ms. Stendahl expressed the appreciation of UNEP to the Government of Barbados, hosts of this virtual meeting, and for their support to the Secretariat in coordinating and organizing the sessions. She recognized that the biennium had been a challenging one due to the continued negative impacts of climate change, pollution of our air, oceans and land, biodiversity loss, and the devastating economic, environmental and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given these challenges, the work of the Cartagena Convention is especially important. The Cartagena Convention Secretariat has led the work to: improve the management of coastal and marine resources including through pollution prevention; respond to emerging and new pollution threats; and, take advantage of opportunities through new projects and partnerships with research and academic institutions, NGOs, private sector and development banks.
She noted that when the LBS Protocol was signed in 1999, it was the first regional legally binding agreement on marine pollution to be developed following the 1995 meeting that launched the Global Programme of Action (GPA). Over the years the GPA has evolved into three leading Global Partnerships on Wastewater, Nutrients, and Marine Litter. The LBS Protocol’s work in the region has been an integral part of that growth, and she was pleased to see the extent of continued collaboration to address these three priority pollutants reflected in the 2021/2022 draft work plan. She also noted the work on the 2020 State of the Convention Area (SOCAR) Report on pollution and the recently finalized Strategies and Action Plans on Nutrients Pollution and Marine Litter, both landmark achievements of which the region should be proud. These Strategies and Action Plans position the Secretariat at the forefront of efforts to control, reduce and prevent pollution from all sources. Pollution is one of the three work pillars for the new UNEP Medium Term Strategy, and in implementing UNEP’s next Programme of Work, there will be increased integration between the eighteen Regional Seas Programmes including the Wider Caribbean Region.
The Principal Coordination Officer of the Secretariat, Ms. Lorna Inniss, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had brought many challenges to a region already suffering an economic downturn. This is the first time the Convention’s intergovernmental meetings are being held virtually. She thanked the Government of Barbados for graciously hosting, noting that in 2019, it became the 15th country to ratify the LBS Protocol. She acknowledged the LBS Contracting Parties, the directors and staff of the LBS Regional Activity Centres (RACs) and representatives of the Caribbean Node on Marine Litter and thanked them for their continued support and contributions to the implementation of the LBS Protocol. Only by working together can we address the transboundary challenges that affect our marine and coastal environment, she stressed, and took the opportunity to further encourage Non-Contracting Parties to ratify the region’s only agreement on marine pollution.
She acknowledged that the issue of funding is a constant concern and urged Member States to renew their commitment to the Secretariat and ensure consistent payments to the Caribbean Trust Fund. Countries in rebuilding and recovering from the economic downturns caused by the pandemic, were urged to incorporate solutions to environmental challenges in their COVID-19 responses.
Finally, she said that the LBS COP deliberations would be critical to adopt Decisions on the work plan and budget for the AMEP Sub-Programme, the Regional Nutrients Pollution Reduction Strategy (which establishes a collaborative framework for the progressive reduction of impacts from excess nutrient loads on priority coastal and marine ecosystems in the WCR), the incorporation of Integrated Water Resources Management into the work of the Convention, nutrient discharge standards, and the establishment of new Working Groups. These Decisions would represent the countries commitments to help set the region on the right path to achieving the SDGs, and the objectives of the UN Decades on Ocean Science and Ecosystem Restoration. By acting decisively and collaboratively, we can achieve our goal of a clean and healthy Caribbean Sea.
The 5th LBS COP went on to consider a comprehensive review of the work of the Assessment of Marine Pollution (AMEP) Programme which is responsible for implementation of the LBS Protocol, over the last biennium as well as discussion of AMEP’s Draft Work Plan and Budget, 2021-2022, which will be presented for further endorsement at the 19th Conference of Parties to the Cartagena Convention on 29th July 2021.
Among key issues discussed were the important work of the Open-Ended Working Group on Monitoring and Assessment and agreement to form three new Sub-Working Groups on data and information, standards and emerging issues. Data and information management was highlighted as particularly critical to improve monitoring and evaluation of program success across the Wider Caribbean Region. Governments endorsed the regional strategies including the nutrients pollution reduction strategy and agreed that these could assist in prioritization of activities that would most assist contracting Parties in meeting their obligations to the LBS Protocol, given the limited resources of the Secretariat. There was recognition of the growing collaboration between the LBS Protocol and Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) Protocol teams, and of the need for Contracting parties to utilize the expertise available through the RACs which presented their own 6-year strategies. The Contracting Parties expressed great appreciation for the evidently hard work and many useful outputs of the Secretariat in its implementation of the LBS Protocol.
Website stories produced for the COP meetings: Strengthening Protection for Caribbean Marine Protected Areas through SPAW ; The Caribbean steps up to the issue of Nutrient Pollution
About the Cartagena Convention
The Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean Region was adopted in 1983 in Cartagena, Colombia. Known as the “Cartagena Convention”, it became legally binding in 1986.
The Convention is supported by 3 technical Protocols, or sub-agreements, namely the Protocol Concerning Cooperation in Combating Oil Spills, the Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities (LBS or Pollution Protocol) and the Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW or Biodiversity Protocol).
The Secretariat for the Cartagena Convention and its Protocols is based in Kingston, Jamaica and is supported by specialized Regional Activity Centres (RACs). The RAC for marine biodiversity is hosted in Guadeloupe (SPAW RAC), the one for Oil Spills is hosted in Curacao (RAC REMPEITC Caribe) while the LBS RACs are hosted in Trinidad and Tobago (Institute of Marine Affairs) and Cuba (Centre of Research and Environmental Management of Transport-CIMAB).
For more information please contact:
Christopher Corbin
Cartagena Convention Secretariat
Ecosystems Division
United Nations Environment Programme
14-20 Port Royal Street
Kingston, JAMAICA
E mail: unep-cartagenaconvention@un.org
Tel. 1 876 922 9267-69
Website: http://www.unenvironment.org/cep
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