MEAs overview Andrea Brusco

1. MEAsoverviewAndrea Brusco Legal Officer UNEP/ROLAC

2. OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENTATION • What is an MEA? • Principles • The process of MEA development • Implementation, Compliance and Enforcement • MEAs institutions • Synergies, cooperation and collaboration • Evolution of MEAs - Clusters • Overview of selected MEAs

3. MEAs Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs): motivated by worldwide concerns about the serious and at times irreversible environmental effects of human activities. Concern -> Agreement -> Solution? When an MEA enters into force: • implementation measures that will result in compliance become mandatory for the Parties, • through adoption/adaptation of national legislative and institutional/administrative frameworks.

4. What is an MEA? • Binding international agreement between two States (bilateral) or between three or more States (multilateral) committing to achieve specific environmental goals, • Can be stand-alone; e.g. Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar), • Can be framework agreements (CBD), • Binds only parties, but can affect non-parties (for example, through trade bans under CITES)

5. Principles • 1972 - Stockholm UN ConferenceonHumanEnvironment • 1992 - Rio de Janeiro UN ConferenceonEnvironment and DevelopmentSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT • 2002 - Johannesburg World Summit onSustainableDevelopment • 2012 – Rio de Janeiro UN ConferenceonSustainableDevelopment

6. Rio Declaration - Principles • Sovereignty of the States over their natural resources, • Prevention, • Common but differentiated responsibilities, • Pollutant pays, • Precautionary approach, • Access to information, public participation and environmental justice, • National implementation of sustainable development.

7. The Process of MEA Development • Pre-negotiation • Negotiation • Adoption & signature • Ratification and accession • Entry into force • Withdrawal from MEA

8. Adoption and Signature • Upon agreement, the final text is adopted at the diplomatic conference or conference of plenipotentiaries (i.e. representatives acting with full authority of their governments), • Signature by a State authenticates the text as the one finally agreed upon and indicates consent to content of negotiations and commitment to the object and purpose of the MEA, • Legally, this means that the State agrees not to undermine the MEA (Convention of Vienna on the Law of the Treaties) • Signature must occur within the time period that the MEA is open for signature. • Reservations?: recent MEAs do not allow reservations (e.g. Vienna Convention, Montreal Protocol, Basel Convention), some are silent (e.g. Espoo Convention)

9. Ratification and Accession States are bound when they become Party to an MEA • A State becomes a Party by: • Ratification (by signatories): legislature/executive consents to treaty, • Acceptance or approval: used when ratification is not explicitly provided for, • Accession: occurs after the MEA comes into force for those States which did not sign agreement when it was open for signature.

10. Amendments/Decisions The scope of an MEA may be adjusted by way of an amendment or decision, • e.g. CITES requires a Decision of the Conference of the Parties to list a species on its Annexes. • Some MEAs require 2/3 majority (e.g. Montreal Protocol or CITES), while others require consensus (e.g. Kyoto Protocol) • Amendments may require ratification, • If amendment is insufficient, a new agreement or protocol may be necessary (e.g. Biosafety Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

11. Implementation Means promulgating and enacting relevant laws, regulations, policies, and other measures and initiatives necessary for Parties to meet their obligations under and achieve compliance with an MEA. Compliance Means the state of conformity with obligations imposed by a State, its competent authorities and agencies, whether directly or through conditions and requirements in permits, licenses, and authorizations, in implementing MEAs. Enforcement Refers to the range of procedures and actions employed by a State to ensure compliance with environmental laws or regulations implemented through MEAs by imposing civil, administrative, or criminal penalties on violators.

12. Responding to Non-compliance • Sovereign States enter into MEAs on a voluntary basis and may withdraw, under certain conditions. • States are reluctant to subject themselves to potential sanctions Query: What happens when a State fails to comply with its obligations under an MEA (e.g. failing to fulfil reporting obligations)? Answer: Most MEAs utilise a formal internal compliance control procedure or non-compliance procedure (NCP), as well as some informal mechanisms.

13. Why current focus on promoting implementation of, compliance with and enforcement of MEAs? • Last three decades saw rapid development of MEAs. • “Positive” development as it may be, has had negative impact on their implementation and enforcement. • Despite the existence of so many MEAs developed over the years, their compliance and enforcement has been weak or inadequate. • Result has been the recent shift of focus from development of more MEAs to promoting compliance with and enforcement of existing environmental conventions especially at national level.

14. MEA Institutions and Implementation (1) UNEP: United Nations Environment Programme • Facilitates international cooperation on environmental matters • UNEP includes various relevant divisions, which prepare drafts of treaties (e.g., CITES, CBD, Basel Convention, CMS), facilitate the negotiation process, assist Parties, and maintain or support secretariats for many MEAs Secretariats • May be part of an existing IGO (UNEP provides secretariat services for Basel Convention, Ozone Convention, CBD, CMS) or may be a stand-alone institution (Climate Change secretariat, Ramsar).

15. MEA Institutions and Implementation (2) Secretariats: • Information Gathering: Often acts as an information clearinghouse for the MEA (e.g. Party reports under Montreal Protocol on quantity of ozone depleting substances), and receive annual or biannual reports from Parties and compile it in uniform formats for effective use at COP. • Record Keeping: Some MEAs require the secretariat to maintain official, technical, and other annexes essential to the MEA. (e.g. Bureau of the Ramsar Convention maintains a list of designated wetlands and a list of conservation targets). • Monitor Compliance & Facilitate Implementation : In most instances, the Secretariat has no enforcement authority, but it does have the power of persuasion to bring a violating party into compliance, Provide or arrange for technical support to assist parties to improve compliance. • Supporting the Conference of the Parties (COP)

16. MEA Institutions and Implementation (3) Conference of the Parties • The primary policy-making organ of most MEA regimes, • Typically occurs once every one or two years, • Monitor, update, revise and enforce conventions, • Can also review the state of science (Example: Article 7 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change). Subsidiary Bodies and Committees • Created pursuant to an MEA, sometimes by a specific MEA provision, • Aim: address specific issues (e.g., technical issues and furthering of technical cooperation) • Examples • CBD: Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) • Ramsar Convention: Scientific and Technical Review panel (STRP)

17. Evolution of MEAs • Pre-Rio: conservation of specificspeciesorhabitats. • The Rio Conventions: CBD, UNFCCC, UNCCD • Post-Rio Conventions: Protocolstothe CBD and UNFCCC, Chemicalscluster .

18. Overlap: synergies, coordination & cooperation • Numerous MEAs lead to challenges for institutional coordination: • Various institutions have responsibility for implementing different but related MEAs; e.g. CBD (UNEP), World Heritage Convention (UNESCO), Ramsar (IUCN). • How to coordinate and cooperate among these institutions? Where should the leadership come from? • This need is underscored by increasing calls to simultaneously address environmental and development concerns in a sustainable fashion (thematic linkages among related MEAs) • Thus: there is a need to improve synergies among MEAs

19. Clustering … BiodiversityrelatedMEAs - Wetlands RAMSAR 1971 , World Cultural and Natural Heritage 1972 , Conventionon International Trade of EndangeredSpecies CITES 1973, ConventiononBiologicalDiversity 1992 Marine Protection and Safety - Cartagena ConventionontheProtection and Development of the Marine Env. In theWiderCaribbean 1983 and Protocols, UN ConventionopntheLaw of the Sea 1982 Chemicals /Waste Management - BaselConventiononHadarzousWastes, Rotterdam ConventiononthePriirInformedCosent, StockholmConventiononPOPs Atmospheric and Climate - ViennaCovnetionfortheProtecytion of the Ozone Layer (1985) and Montreal Protocol (1989), UNFCCC (1992) and KyotoProtocol (2005) SustainableLand Management – UnitedNationsConventiononCombatDesertification (1992)

20. Overview of selectedMEAs • CBD:frameworkconvention. Intensivenegotiatonprocesswhichledto 2 Protocols. • UNFCCC: commonbutdifferentiatedresponsibilities. • Chemicalscluster: synergies, collaboration & cooperation.

21. CBD – Convention on Biological Diversity • Entry into force: 29 December 1993 • 42 Articles and 2 Annex • Parties: 193 • Main objectives : • The conservation of biological diversity, • The sustainable use of its components, • The fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

22. CBD Article 6states that each Contracting Party shall, in accordance with its particular conditions and capabilities: - Develop national strategies, plans or programmes for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity or adapt for this purpose existing strategies, plans or programmes which shall reflect, inter alia, the measures set out in this Convention relevant to the Contracting Party concerned. - Integrate, as far as possible and as appropriate, the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans, programmes and policies. Article 8 - In-situ Conservation Each Contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate: • Establish a system of protected areas or areas where special measures need to be taken to conserve biological diversity; …. Article 9 Ex-situ Conservation

23. CBD • COP-3 (Decision III/9) • Encouraged Parties to include in their national plans, strategies, or legislation, measures for in situ and ex situ conservation, sectoral integration of biodiversity considerations, and the equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources. • Encouraged Parties to set measurable targets to achieve biodiversity conservation and sustainable use objectives. • COP-7 • New and revised NBSAPs should be formulated to provide a coherent evaluation of the implementation of goals for the Strategic Plan, 2010 Target, national and regional objectives, and complementary plans. • NBSAPs should emphasize the use of indicators to facilitate assessments of progress.

24. CBD - Protocols • Biosafety (CBD Art. 19) – The Cartagena Protocol Entryintoforce: 11 September 2003 Parties: 147 Partes signataria Objective: to ensure the safe handling, transport and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health. • ABS (CBD Art.15) – The Nagoya Protocol Open tosignatureon 2 February 2011. Objective: sharing the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and to technologies, and by appropriate funding, thereby contributing to the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components.

25. UNFCCC : UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Entry into force: 21 March 1994 Parties: 195 The UNFCCC sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change.  It recognizes that the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.  • Climate change, is “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable periods of time.” (UNFCCC art. 1.2) Under the Convention, Parties: • gather and share information on greenhouse gas emissions, national policies and best practices , • launch national strategies for addressing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to expected impacts, including the provision of financial and technological support to developing countries.  • cooperate in preparing for adaptation to the impacts of climate change .

26. UNFCCC: Parties and commitments • Annex I Parties: OECD + PET FC: Nationalpolicies and mitigation KP (February 2005) : Reduction y limitation of emissions of 6 GHG (-5%) • Non Annex I Parties CM: NationalCommuncations KP: no new commitments, • Annex II Parties: OECD Financialassistance and technology transfer.

27. Chemicals Cluster: The Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions • A framework for Life Cycle Management • - The 3 conventions together cover elements of “cradle-to-grave” management • - Common thread = POPs • - Basel Convention Rotterdam Convention Stockholm Convention

28. Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal Adopted 1989 in response to concerns about developed country companies dumping hazardous wastes in developing countries. Entry into force: 5 May 1992 Parties: 172 Parties. RotterdamConvention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade Adopted in 1998 in response to dramatic growth in chemicals trade, and vulnerability of developing countries to uncontrolled imports. Entry into force: 24 February 2004 Parties: 130 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Adopted in 2001 in response to an urgent need for global action on “POPs” (chemicals that are “persistent, bioaccumulate in fatty tissues and biomagnify through the food chain”). Entry into force : 17 May 2004 Parties: 168

29. Chemicals Cluster: Scope and coverage Basel covers wastes listed in Annex I, as further elaborated in Annexes VIII and IX, and possessing hazardous characteristics (e.g. explosive, flammable, poisonous, infectious, corrosive, toxic, ecotoxic), as well as household wastes (“other wastes”of Annex II). Wastes defined as hazardous under national legislation can also be covered. Rotterdam covers pesticides and industrial chemicals that have been banned or severely restricted for health or environmental reasons by Parties and which have been notified by Parties for inclusion in the PIC procedure. Stockholm covers 14 pesticides, and 7 industrial chemicals and by-products. Common Link Most POPs are covered by all three Conventions. Many pesticides are subject to the three conventions.

30. Chemicals cluster: ExCOPs • The ExCOPs took place in Bali International Convention Centre, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, 22-24 February 2010. • A committee to advise the UNEP ED and FAO DG on the preparations for the ExCOPs, composed of 5 bureau members from each of the COPs of the three conventions. • Substantive issues: omnibus decisions on: Joint services, Joint activities, Joint managerial functions, Synchronizing budget cycles, Joint audits . Review mechanisms and follow up Objetive: improve support to parties

31. Chemicals cluster: ExCOPs Joint services: Efforts towards greater coordination have resulted in a better pool of available support and expertise; better continuity of services; uniformity of procedures; tools to facilitating joint planning; more efficient use of staff skills. Gains in effectiveness and efficiency, in addition to cost savings, will free up the capacity of the technical staff to provide support to Parties in implementing the Conventions. Joint activities Joint planning has resulted in enhanced delivery of activities at the regional and national levels and reduced duplication of efforts Joint cooperation with partners has resulted in increased awareness and support towards the implementation of the three conventions. Joint use of regional centres, decentralization of activities and more efficient use of resources required to implementation national priorities is being supported through joint activities.

32. … Questions? … Comments? Manythanksforlistening