The Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans aim to act as a platform for the regional implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), global and regional programmes and initiatives on ocean-related issues.
In addition, the individual Regional Seas programmes have increased both regional and inter-regional collaboration by promoting horizontal ties among the Regional Seas programmes and partner programmes; strengthening their cooperation with international organizations and forging new partnerships towards the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, Sustainable Development Goals as well as the new post 2020 global biodiversity framework and regional and international conventions, agreements and initiatives..
The Conventions have developed various ways and means to enhance cooperation and coordination among regional seas organizations, MEAs, global and regional bodies. These include:
- Scientific collaboration and cooperation as well as the use of tools, approaches and indicators
- Developing joint global/regional-level strategies, memorandums of understanding, or other collaborative arrangements to identify common objectives, outline joint and/or complementary activities, and clarify roles and expectations of respective regional organizations;
- Identifying specific issues of common interest around which to structure cooperation and coordination on scientific and technical matters as well as management tools and approaches;
- Promoting harmonized approaches for collecting and accessing data, and exchanging scientific information produced by a wide range of entities, including governments, universities, research institutions/partnerships, non-governmental organizations, and United Nations agencies, e.g., information on ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs) and vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) as well as from the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) and the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS);
- Production of complementary and holistic assessments of the status and trends of the marine environment, fisheries, biodiversity and ecosystems;
- Supporting national reporting through regional frameworks, including through compatible approaches for data and reporting formats, using, where possible, existing indicators, and aligning this with reporting on progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the Sustainable Development Goals .
Click the links below to read more of some of our work with partners
1) International Maritime Organization (IMO)
2) Global Plan of Action (GPA)
3) Global Environment Facility (GEF)
4) The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO
5) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
6) European Union (EU)
7) World Bank
8) UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS)
9) Green Climate Fund (GCF)
10) Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)
11) Global Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs)
(i) Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions
(ii) Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
(iii) Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
(iv) Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)
(v) Ramsar Convention on wetlands
12) World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
13) The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
14) International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
15) The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI)
