Brief on the Draft Protocol to the Abidjan Convention Concerning Cooperation in the Protection of the Marine and Coastal Environment from Land-Based Sources and Activities (LBSA)

Background and Mandate
The Fifth and Seventh Conferences of the Contracting Parties adopted two decisions relating to amending articles 1 and 26 to expand the geographical scope; (decision CP. 5/1) reviewing of the Abidjan Convention and (decision CP. 7/3) initiating and completing the development of new protocols on land-based activities.

Not withstanding these decisions the Contracting Parties further adopted at their Eighth Conference of Parties held in Johannesburg, South Africa in November 2008 (decision CP. 8/6.2) in which they agreed to “Convene a Conference of Plenipotentiaries to negotiate and adopt the protocol on land based activities by the end of December 2008.

The need for a protocol on land-based sources and activities is due to:

• the wide recognition by the Contracting Parties that pollution from land-based sources and activities constitute major threats to the marine and coastal environment in the Abidjan Convention area;
• the coastal and marine ecosystems in the area provide livelihoods for many coastal communities;
• the coastal area supports tourism, industries and numerous busy ports.

The Drafting Process

Decision CP. 8/6.2 was adopted on the basis of a consultative process in which United Nations Environment Programme and the Secretariat of the Interim Commission of the Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem (GCLME) supported the preparations of the draft text and holding of consultations meetings.

The initial draft prepared in 2005 was followed in 2006 by capacity building workshops on National Programme of Action (NPA) and the draft protocol in the 16 GCLME countries – Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Thereafter a meeting for in-depth review and inputs into the draft document by the GCLME National Directors from the 16 GCLME countries and other stakeholders was held in Accra, Ghana in January 2007.

In order to bring on board countries that are not part of the GCLME project (Cape Verde, Gambia, Mauritania, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa) in the development and review of the draft document, a meeting was held in Dakar, Senegal in May 2007.

Further, another meeting held in Accra, Ghana in June 2007 brought together delegates from 18 out of the 22 countries in Abidjan Convention area and representatives from NGOs, UNIDO, UNDP and US-NOAA to review and provide inputs into the draft document.

In addition, the draft was reviewed at the stakeholders meeting held in Dakar, Senegal in April 2008 on the revitalization of the Abidjan Convention. The meeting was attended by representatives from 18 countries in the Abidjan Convention area and from the GCLME Interim Commission, Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem project, Benguela Current Commission, IUCN, Wetlands International and UN agencies.

All the consultative meetings and workshops provided opportunities for inputs and stakeholders’ better understanding of the provisions of the draft document and for national and regional consensus building.

Overall, the Protocol is aimed at preventing, reducing, mitigating and controlling pollution from land-based sources and activities from the territories of the Abidjan Convention area or emanating from any other land-based source, including through the atmosphere, in order to protect and sustain the marine and coastal environment. The draft protocol is in accordance of article 7 of the Abidjan Convention.

The Legal and Technical Experts Meeting to Negotiate the Draft LBSA Protocol

In response to decisions CP. 7/3 and CP. 8/6.2, the United Nations Environment Programme, in collaboration with the Government of Ghana and the Secretariat of the GCLME, is organizing meeting in Accra, Ghana, from March 30 - April 1, 2009. to negotiate the draft Protocol.

The meeting will be attended by government nominated legal and other technical experts conversant with the Abidjan Convention and the draft protocol. The nominated delegates will be required to present letters of accreditation from their Ministries of Foreign Affairs conferring such delegates with full powers to represent and negotiate on behalf of their governments. The negotiations meeting in Accra is therefore intended to further advance the process of making the protocol.

The outcome of the meeting will be a finalized text of the protocol which will be submitted for adoption at a Conference of Plenipotentiaries. Thereafter the Protocol will be sent to all governments in the Abidjan Convention area for ratification or accession using their national processes and instruments.