Strengthening international cooperation on enclosed and semi-enclosed seas

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities.

[Mediterranean Sea] The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean, 1976 (Barcelona Convention) is an effort to prevent, abate and combat pollution and to protect and enhance the marine environment of the Mediterranean. The original Convention was modified by amendments adopted on 10 June 1995. The amended text has not yet entered into force. To fulfil the goal of the Convention, a complex legal and institutional structure has been set up, including the adoption of the following protocols: Protocol for the Prevention of Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by Dumping from Ships and Aircraft, Barcelona, 1976, replaced by the Protocol for the Prevention and Elimination of Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by Dumping from Ships and Aircraft or Incineration at Sea; Protocol concerning Cooperation in Combating Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by Oil and Other Harmful Substances in Cases of Emergency, Barcelona, 1976 (in force 1978); Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution from Land-Based Sources, Athens, 1980, replaced by the Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities (in force 1983); Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas in the Mediterranean, Geneva, 1982, replaced by the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean, Barcelona, 1995 (the "Barcelona Protocol", in force 1999); Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution resulting from Exploration and Exploitation of the Continental Shelf and the Seabed and its Sub-Oil, Madrid, 1994 (in force 2011); Protocol on the Prevention of Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, 1996 (in force 2008).

States should, where and as appropriate, ensure adequate coordination and cooperation in enclosed and semi-enclosed seas and between subregional, regional and global intergovernmental fisheries bodies.