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.
