Toward an effective protocol on land-based marine pollution in the wider Caribbean Region

Abstract

This study was undertaken to advance the basis for discussions among Contracting Parties to the Cartagena Convention concerning a protocol on land-based marine pollution (LBMP) in the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR). The study has four principal objectives: (1) a review and summary of LBMP problems to determine common problems and priority areas; (2) a survey of broadly defined environmental infrastructure to help identify national commitments and national capacities to prevent, reduce, or control LBMP; (3) a survey and analysis of subregional differences in commitment or interest in regional control of LBMP; and (4) a comparison of program approaches from other regions, providing lessons from which an effective program for the Caribbean might be designed. The study argues that the environmental, economic, and institutional diversity of the region as a whole suggests (1) an incremental approach to international resolution of LBMP problems, one that builds upon successful arangements among states that have appropriate incentives for solving real transboundary pollution problems; and (2) a subregional approach to the control of localized but widely occurring pollution problems, in which the "umbrella" function of a regional protocol would concentrate on the need to ensure uniform access to all clearinghouse products and on the internal allocation of financial and technical assistance to individual states and subregions.