Division for Sustainable Development
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UN-Oceans
Intergovernmental Mechanisms
The UN General Assembly Informal Consultative Process on Oceans
Following an extensive and in-depth discussion on oceans by CSD-7, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 54/33 of 24 November 1999 entitled 'Results of the review by the Commission on Sustainable Development of the sectoral theme of "Oceans and Seas": international coordination and cooperation'. This resolution, inter alia, endorsed the recommendations made by the CSD regarding, in particular, international coordination and cooperation of the oceans, and, in this regard, decided to establish an open-ended informal consultative process to facilitate the annual review by the General Assembly of developments in ocean affairs. The Consultative Process, which is open to all States Members and accredited observers of the United Nations and intergovernmental organizations and agencies with competence in ocean affairs, was initially given a three-year mandate, which was renewed for a further three years in 2002 (GA resolution 57/141). It has met for one week annually each June in 2000-2005. The reports of its meetings are available on the website of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs (DOALOS), which serves as the secretariat in cooperation with DESA/DSD. The mandate of the Consultative Process will again be reviewed by the 60th session of the General Assembly, in 2005.
In conjunction with the Consultative Process, the General Assembly has also authorized two International Workshops on the establishment of a regular process for global reporting and assessment of the state of the marine environment (called for by the WSSD in JPOI para. 36b), with representatives from States, relevant organizations, agencies and programmes of the UN system and other relevant IGOs and NGOs. The 2nd International Workshop was held in New York from 13-15 June 2005, with secretariat support from UN/DOALOS.
Interagency Coordination
Reflecting the broad-based and wide-ranging nature of activities related to the oceans, an inter-agency subcommittee was established by the former IACSD to serve as Task Manager for Chapter 17 of Agenda 21. This was the Subcommittee on Oceans and Coastal Areas (SOCA) of the United Nations Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC). Participants in SOCA included representatives of FAO, UNESCO, IAEA, IMO, WMO, UNIDO, World Bank, ILO, UNDP, UNEP, United Nations (DOALOS and DESA), and the CBD. In December 2001, the ACC (renamed the Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB)) decided to abolish all permanent interagency subsidiary bodies, and urged the entities of the UN system to coordinate through ad hoc, issues-oriented and time-bound informal activities.
Following several requests from member States for a more regular and accountable approach to coordination on oceans, including by WSSD (JPOI, para. 30c) and the General Assembly (Res. 57/141 and Res. 58/240), as well as from many of the involved organizations, the CEB in 2003 decided to establish UN-Oceans as the UN inter-agency coordinating mechanism on oceans and coastal issues. In addition to continuing the work of SOCA in overseeing the management and development of the UN Atlas of the Oceans, a web-based information system led by FAO which currently covers over 1000 topics and is accessed by about 2000 people daily from all over the world, UN-Oceans has established four time-bound task groups, each coordinated by a lead organization. These focus on: Post-Tsunami Response (led by UNESCO/IOC); Establishing a regular process for global monitoring of the marine environment (led by UN-DOALOS); Marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (led by CBD secretariat); and the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (led by UNEP/GPA). Most of the work of these task forces will be carried out electronically, minimizing the need for actual meetings. Further information on UN-Oceans, including its terms of reference, members, officers, joint activities and programmes, and documents and reports is available on its website.