- Quick links
- Interactive Governance Diagram
- Interactive Map
© GRID-Arendal, Norway. All Rights Reserved.
Designed by GRID-A
There are 18 Regional Seas Programmes (RSPs) around the globe, which bring together neighbouring maritime nations in a collective effort to
protect their regional marine environment through information sharing and transboundary conservation actions. Some RSPs have a geographical
remit that extends into ABNJ.
Most (fourteen) of the existing RSPs are underpinned by a legally binding international Convention (often with added legal Protocols on specific issues,
e.g. pollution, or protected areas). The remaining four RSPs are underpinned by a shared Action Plan, which may evolve into a Convention in future.
Only four RSPs are independent multilateral organisations. The other fourteen were established under the auspices of
UN Environment’s Regional Seas Programme, and seven are directly administered by UN Environment.
While there are differences in the institutional setup and related terminology used by RSPs, there are some common themes:
There are differences in the resource that countries can commit to RSPs in different parts of the
world, and in the degree of political support within national governments for transboundary
environmental protection. This means that some RSPs have implemented a lot more actions than others.
The equivalent is true for the amount of emphasis placed on ABNJ matters: All RSPs focus primarily
on the combined EEZs (and Extended Continental Shelf areas) of their Contracting Parties, but some
are also taking interest in adjacent ABNJ, depending on the political priorities and resource
available within national governments. In specific cases, Contracting Parties have extended the
mandate of their RSP to protect the environment beyond their combined jurisdictional waters,
including through High Seas MPAs.
The geographical remit of the RSPs normally encompasses the combined jurisdictional areas of the Contracting Parties
(i.e. their combined territorial waters, EEZs and Extended Continental Shelf areas).
However, RSPs are increasingly interested in managing environmental risks in adjacent ABNJ, depending on the political priorities and resource
available to Contracting Parties. Four RSPs (the North East Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean and Antarctic RSPs), already have a clear mandate
to protect their ABNJ environment (e.g. through High Seas MPAs), and the South East Pacific RSP has a mandate to control pollution
in ABNJ if there is a risk of that pollution affecting the jurisdictional waters of their Contracting Parties.
The Caribbean
Environment Programme (CEP) was established in the 1980s. It is underpinned by the Convention for the Protection and
Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean Region
(Cartagena Convention),
with a Secretariat (the Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit or CAR/RCU) based in Kingston, Jamaica.
The Cartagena Convention is focused on jurisdictional waters, with no formal ABNJ mandate.
There are three supporting Protocols under the Cartagena Convention, each with one or more of
its own RACs (note that not all signatories to the main Convention have signed or ratified all
the Protocols):
Further information:
Ten countries in South East Asia are signatories to the
Action Plan for the Protection and development of the Marine and coastal areas of the East Asian Region.
There is no underpinning legal Convention.
The Action Plan is coordinated by the
Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), with a Secretariat based in Bangkok, Thailand. Recent focus has
been on actions to address land-based pollution, as well as on marine and coastal planning and
related governance.
So far, COBSEA has focused on jurisdictional waters, with no formal ABNJ mandate.
***placeholder: map window*** (map of Contracting Parties)
Further information:
Ten countries of East Africa have signed the Nairobi Convention, a Regional Seas Convention that sets out shared goals to safeguard the environment of the
Western Indian Ocean Region
The term “Nairobi Convention” is used to refer to the legal instrument itself, as well as to the institutions responsible for its implementation, especially
the regional Secretariat (the RCU), based in Nairobi, Kenya, its National Focal Points (representing each of the Contracting Parties), a number of
expert groups/task forces, and collaborating partners. The main decision-making body of the Nairobi Convention is the Conference of Parties (COP), which meets every two years.
The Nairobi Convention is focused on jurisdictional waters, but has participated in work that has considered how to address environmental issues in ABNJ.
***placeholder: map window*** (map of Contracting Parties)
Further information:
The Mediterranean RSP is underpinned by the Barcelona Convention, the first of the regional seas Conventions. Its first incarnation (the Convention for the
Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution) was signed in 1975 and came into force in 1976.
The Barcelona Convention was amended in 1995 to expand its focus from pollution to wider environmental protection. The amended version came into force in 2004
(as the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean). It currently has 22 Contracting Parties
(the 21 states with Mediterranean coastlines and the European Union).
The Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention have signed up to an extensive Mediterranean Action plan (MAP), the earliest incarnation of which predated
the original Barcelona Convention. The latest version of the MAP (the Action Plan for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Sustainable Development of the
Coastal Areas of the Mediterranean, or MAP Phase II).
Nowhere in the Mediterranean is more than 200 nautical miles from the shore, so if all coastal states declared their EEZs, there would be no Mediterranean ABNJ.
However, not all Mediterranean states have yet declared their EEZs, nor have all maritime boundaries between adjacent or opposite states been agreed (see
UNEP-MAP RAC/SPA 2011).
This means that for practical purposes, the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols are being implemented in areas that are currently ABNJ (High Seas), though all these
areas may in future fall under national jurisdictions.
There are seven current Protocols associated with the Barcelona Convention (note that not all signatories to the main Convention have signed or ratified all the Protocols):
Further information:
There is no Convention in place in the North West Pacific RSP, but in 1994 the People’s Republic of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea
and the Russian Federation adopted the Action Plan for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the
Northwest Pacific Region (NOWPAP).
NOWPAP is focused on jurisdictional waters, with no formal ABNJ mandate.
The implementation of NOWPAP is coordinated through the NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit (NOWPAP RCU), based in Toyama, Japan and Busan, South Korea.
The NOWPAP RCU is supported by four RACs:
Further information:
Twenty-two countries along the West African seaboard from Mauritania to South Africa have signed the Abidjan Convention (the Convention for Cooperation
in the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Atlantic Coast of the West, Central and Southern Africa Region),
which provides an overarching legal framework for all marine-related programmes in West, Central and Southern Africa.
The implementation of the Abidjan Convention is coordinated by a Secretariat based in Abidjan. The Convention’s secretariat states its mission as to
“Protect, Conserve and Develop the Abidjan Convention Area and its Resources for the Benefit and Well-being of its People.”
The Abidjan Convention is focused on jurisdictional waters, but has participated in work that has considered how to address environmental issues in ABNJ.
***placeholder: map window*** (map of Contracting Parties)
Further information:
The Tehran Convention was signed by five countries with a Caspian coastline in 2003 and came into force in 2006. The Tehran Convention Secretariat
is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland, but is due to move to Baku, Azerbaijan.
There are no ABNJ within the Caspian Sea.
***placeholder: map window*** (map of Contracting Parties)
Further information:
The six countries around the Black Sea have signed the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution (the Bucharest Convention),
which has three protocols on:
Its implementation is managed by the Commission for the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution and its Permanent Secretariat in Istanbul, Turkey.
There are no ABNJ in the Black Sea.
***placeholder: map window*** (map of Contracting Parties)
Further information:
The Convention for Cooperation in the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of The Northeast Pacific (Antigua Convention)
was signed in 2002, but is not yet in force. There is no established Secretariat.
***placeholder: map window*** (map of signatories)
Further information:
Several states of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region have signed the Regional Convention for the Conservation of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Environment
(Jeddah Convention) with its associated Action Plan and four Protocols. Its implementation is coordinated by PERSGA (the Regional Organization for the
Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden), based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
There are no ABNJ in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
***placeholder: map window*** (map of Contracting Parties)
Further information:
The ROPME Sea Area roughly encompasses the area around the Persian / Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, the acronym being derived from the organisation coordinating the
regional seas programme in the area, the Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME).
This organisation (with a Secretariat based in Kuwait) was established to coordinate the implementation of the Kuwait Convention,
signed by eight countries in the region in 1978, making this one of the first regional seas programmes to become established globally.
There are no ABNJ in the ROPME Sea Area.
***placeholder: map window*** (map of Contracting Parties)
Further information:
There is no legally binding Convention in place relating to the protection of the South Asian Seas, but in 1995 the five coastal nations in the regions
established the South East Asian Seas Programme (SASP), a cooperative partnership for the shared protection of the marine waters and ecosystems in the region.
It is underpinned by an Action Plan (the South Asian Seas Action Plan or SASAP), agreed in 1995.
SASP was established by the South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP), an intergovernmental organization established in 1982 with a wider environmental
protection remit and wider membership (including landlocked nations of the region). SACEP is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka and serves as the Secretariat for SASP.
SASP is focused on jurisdictional waters, with no formal ABNJ mandate.
***placeholder: map window*** (map of Contracting Parties)
Further information:
Five states along the Pacific seaboard of South America signed the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and Coastal
Zones of the South East Pacific (Lima Convention) in 1981. This was preceded by three decades of effort in the region to collaborate
on the protection of their shared marine environment and the food sources therein, with a number of agreements, declarations and other
instruments having been in place since the 1950s.
The implementation of the Lima Convention is coordinated by the Permanent Commission for the Protection of the South Pacific
(Comisión Permanente del Pacífico Sur, or CPPS for short), based in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
The work of the CPPS is focused primarily on jurisdictional waters, but together with representatives of the five Contracting Parties
(from whom the CPPS derive their mandate) they are engaged in work that is considering whether or how they might address environmental issues in
ABNJ at a regional level. Under the Lima Convention, the CPPS can implement measures in ABNJ adjacent to the EEZs of their Contracting Parties
if there is a risk of pollution from activities in ABNJ affecting EEZs or coastal areas of the Contracting Parties.
***placeholder: map window*** (map of Contracting Parties)
Further information:
There are three Conventions that underpin the Pacific RSP:
Further information:
There is no Arctic Regional Seas Programme established under the auspices of UN Environment,
but there exists a complex of organisations active in the Arctic region whose wider remits effectively encompass the work covered by
Regional Seas Programmes in other parts of the world.
The main forum promoting international cooperation in the Arctic region is the Arctic Council, established through the
Ottawa Declaration in 1996.
It has a Secretariat based in Tromsø, Norway. Its membership encompasses the eight nations of the Arctic region and six
organisations representing indigenous peoples:
Further information:
There is no Antarctic Regional Seas Programme established under the auspices of UN Environment, but there exists a
complex of regional organisations whose wider remits effectively encompass the work covered by Regional Seas Programmes in
other parts of the world.
The continent of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean are governed under the Antarctic Treaty System, a complex of arrangements
made for the purpose of regulating relations among states in the Antarctic. At its core is the Antarctic Treaty of 1959
(in force since 1961), which grants free access to Antarctica for peaceful research on the basis of a prohibition of military activities
and a mutual agreement to hold all territorial claims in abeyance. The Antarctic Treaty currently has 54 signatories, 29 of which have decision-making status.
Its implementation is overseen by a
Secretariat based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Antarctic Treaty is augmented by the
Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty
(signed in 1991 and in force since 1998), the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals
(CCAS, signed in 1972 and in force since 1978), and the Convention on the Conservation of
Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR, signed in 1980 and in force since 1982).
The Protocol on Environmental Protection has been signed by all Contracting Parties to the main Treaty.
It designates Antarctica as a “natural reserve devoted to peace and science”, prohibits all types of mineral resource exploitation,
and places strict environmental regulations on all other activities. It has six Annexes, the first four of which (on environmental impact assessments,
the protection of fauna and flora, waste disposal and marine pollution) were adopted and entered into force together with the Protocol itself.
Annex V (on protected areas) was adopted in 1991 and entered into force in 2002, and Annex VI on Liability Arising from Environmental Emergencies was
adopted in 2005 and is not yet in force.
The most relevant instrument for regional seas management, however, is CCAMLR. Although it is a separate Convention, it automatically binds
its Contracting Parties to a range of obligations in the Antarctic Treaty and its Protocol on Environmental Protection. There is a slight difference
in geographical coverage, though: While the Antarctic Treaty and the Protocol apply to the area south of the 60th parallel, CCAMLR applies within the
Southern Ocean as bounded by the Antarctic Convergence, which is north of the 60th parallel in some places.
The implementation of CCAMLR is coordinated by
the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
(known by the same acronym as the Convention itself, CCAMLR). CCAMLR is based in Hobart, Tasmania (Australia),
and its function encompasses environmental conservation as well as fisheries management. As such, it can be regarded both as an
RFMO and as an equivalent to RSP RCUs in other regions of the global ocean.
***placeholder: map window*** (map of the Contracting Parties of the Antarctic Treaty and of CCAMLR)
Further information:
HELCOM (the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission
- Helsinki Commission) was established about four decades ago with the mission of protecting the Baltic Sea from environmental degradation.
Its remit is now underpinned by the 1992 Helsinki Convention, signed by nine states around the Baltic Sea and the European Union. Although
established independently of the UN Environment Regional Seas Programme, the function of HELCOM can be regarded as equivalent to that of an RSP RCU.
There are no ABNJ in the Baltic Sea.
***placeholder: map window*** (map of the Contracting Parties)
Further information:
Multilateral efforts to protect the North East Atlantic environment from pollution started in the late 1960s,
with two international Conventions (the Oslo Convention and the Paris Convention) signed in the 1970s to respectively
address pollution from ships and aircraft, and land-based pollution. These two conventions were superseded by the 1992 Convention
for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (the OSPAR Convention),
signed by 13 states and in force since 1998. Its implementation is coordinated by the
OSPAR Secretariat,
based in London, UK. Although independent from the UN Environment Regional Seas Programme,
in its function the OSPAR Secretariat is equivalent to that of an RSP RCU.
OSPAR focuses on five main work areas:
Further information: