Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) - practice note

Title	Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR)
Parties	15 governments and the EU
Adopted	22 September 1992
Entry into force	25 March 1998
Full text	Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic
Subject	Marine pollution, marine conservation

OSPAR

OSPAR is a regional agreement by which 15 governments and the EU (see implementing Council Decision 98/249/EC) co-operate to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic.

The OSPAR agreement takes its name from the two agreements it replaced—the 1972 Oslo Convention for the prevention of marine pollution by dumping from ships and aircraft and the 1974 Paris Convention for the prevention of marine pollution from land-based sources.

References:

Article 31, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

The original conventions came from a growing awareness of the need to protect the marine environment—especially following environmental disasters, such as the grounding of the Torrey Canyon in 1967 in Cornwall and the subsequent release of 117,000 tonnes of oil in the North-East Atlantic.

Following a meeting of the Oslo and Paris Commissions in 1992, these two conventions were unified, updated and extended to form the OSPAR, which came into force on the 25 March 1998. This was part of progressive and coherent measures necessary to ensure that further international action was taken to prevent and eliminate pollution of the sea, including controlling more sources of pollution than were previously covered by the Oslo and Paris Conventions.

Rather than focussing on just one area of marine pollution, OSPAR deals with marine pollution in the North-East Atlantic from a number of sources, including:

• land-based

References:

Article 3, Annex I, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• dumping or incineration

References:

Article 4, Annex II, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• offshore

References:

Article 5, Annex III, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• protection and conservation of the ecosystems and biological diversity—Annex V (on the protection and conservation of the ecosystems and biological diversity of the maritime area) was adopted in 1998 to cover adverse effects of human activities other than pollution — for more information, see Practice Note: Marine protected areas

References:

Annex V, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

The North-East Atlantic

The North-East Atlantic, defined as the ‘maritime area’, includes the following regions:

• Arctic waters
• Greater North Sea
• Celtic seas
• Bay of Biscay and Iberian coast
• wider Atlantic

For more information, see OSPAR website map and Article 1, OSPAR definition.

OSPAR Commission

The OSPAR Commission was established by OSPAR, as successor to the Oslo and Paris Commissions, to administer OSPAR and to develop policy and international agreements in this field. The key work areas, include:

• protection and conservation of ecosystems and biological diversity
• hazardous substances
• radioactive substances
• eutrophication
• environmental goals and management mechanisms for offshore activities
• human activities
• cross-cutting issues

The OSPAR Commission provides a forum through which the contracting parties can co-ordinate international co-operation on the protection of the North-East Atlantic marine environment. The OSPAR Commission shares common regulation and management of the human activities impacting the seas, supported by monitoring and assessment of the state of the seas.

References:

Article 10, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

As one of four regional seas conventions covering European waters, OSPAR aims to ensure, as much as is practicable, a common approach among the European Regional Seas Conventions to the management of the human activities that have the potential to impact the seas, and to the assessment of the marine environment.

Furthermore, the OSPAR Commission helps facilitate the co-ordinated implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC (MSFD), with the objective of attaining good environmental status for European waters. For more information on MSFD, see Practice Note: Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC—snapshot.

Observers may also, by unanimous vote of the contracting parties, be admitted to the Commission to participate in Commission meetings.

References:

Article 11, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

The OSPAR Commission works under the umbrella of customary international law as codified by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), especially in Part XII and Article 197 on the global and regional co-operation for the protection and preservation of the marine environment. For more information on UNCLOS, see Practice Note: United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)—snapshot.

OSPAR general obligations

Article 2 of OSPAR sets out the general obligations, which include that contracting parties must:

• take all possible steps to prevent and eliminate pollution and must take necessary measures to protect the maritime area against the adverse effects of human activities to safeguard human health and to conserve the marine ecosystem and when practicable restore marine areas that have been adversely affected

References:

Article 2(1)(a), Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• individually and jointly adopt programmes and measures and must harmonise policies and strategies

References:

Article 2(1)(b), Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• apply the precautionary principle which means that preventive measures are to be taken when there are reasonable grounds for concern that substances or energy introduced, directly or indirectly, into the marine environment may bring about hazards to human health, harm living resources and marine ecosystems, damage amenities or interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea, even when there is no conclusive evidence of a causal relationship between the inputs and the effects

References:

Article 2(2)(a), Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• apply the polluter pays principle which means that the costs of pollution prevention, control and reduction measures are to be borne by the polluter

References:

Article 2(2)(b), Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• use best available techniques and best environmental practice, as well as the latest technological developments and practices available for preventing and eliminating pollution fully, when designing programmes and measures

References:

Article 3, Annex 1, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• ensure that the measures adopted are done in such a way as to prevent an increase in pollution of the sea outside of the maritime area or in other parts of the environment

References:

Article 4, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

Nothing in the OSPAR Convention prevents contracting parties from taking any more stringent measures with respect to prevention and elimination of pollution of the maritime area or protection of the maritime area from the adverse effects of human activities.

References:

Article 5, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

Pollution from land-based sources

Contracting parties must, individually and jointly, take all possible steps to prevent and eliminate pollution from land-based sources in accordance with the provisions of OSPAR, in particular as provided for in Annex I. Annex I sets out that:

References:

Article 3, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• when adopting programmes and measures, contracting parties shall require the use of best available techniques for point sources and best environmental practice for point and diffuse sources including clean technology (see Appendix 1 for more on these definitions) and shall use the criteria given in Appendix 2

References:

Annex 1, Article 1(1) and Article 1(2), Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• contracting parties must take preventative measures to minimise the risk of pollution caused by accidents

References:

Annex 1, Article 1(3), Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• when adopting programmes and measures in relation to radioactive substances, including waste, contracting parties shall also take account of the recommendations of the other appropriate international organisations and agencies and the monitoring procedures recommended by these international organisations and agencies

References:

Annex 1, Article 1(3), Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• any point source discharges into the maritime area and releases into water or air which reach the maritime area must be subject to authorisation/regulation by competent authorities of the contracting parties and these competent authorities must provide regular monitoring and inspections to ensure compliance with any authorisations

References:

Annex 1, Article 2, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• the Commission is obliged to draw up plans for the reduction and phasing out of substances that are toxic, persistent and liable to bioaccumulate arising from land-based sources and when appropriate, programmes and measures for the reduction of inputs of nutrients from urban, municipal, industrial, agricultural and other sources

References:

Annex 1, Article 3, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

Pollution by dumping or incineration

Article 4 of OSPAR provides that contracting parties must take all possible steps to prevent and eliminate pollution by dumping or incineration of wastes or other matters. Annex 2 provides the details on this and sets out that certain wastes may be dumped, with authorisation by competent authorities of contracting parties, including:

References:

Article 4, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• dredged material
• inert materials of natural origin, that is solid, chemically unprocessed geological material the chemical constituents of which are unlikely to be released into the marine environment
• sewage sludge (until 31st December 1998)
• fish waste from industrial fish processing operations
• vessels or aircraft (until 31st December 2004)
• carbon dioxide streams from carbon dioxide capture processes for storage, provided disposal is into a sub-soil geological formation; the streams consist overwhelmingly of carbon dioxide; no wastes or other matter are added for the purpose of disposing of those wastes or other matter; they are intended to be retained in these formations permanently and will not lead to significant adverse consequences for the marine environment, human health and other legitimate uses of the maritime area

Note that Annex 2 does not apply to any deliberate disposal in the maritime area of wastes or other matter from offshore installations or offshore installations and offshore pipelines.

References:

Annex 2, Article 1, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

It also does not apply in case of force majeure, when the safety of human life or of a vessel or aircraft is threatened. Such dumping must only be conducted so as to minimise the likelihood of damage to human or marine life and shall immediately be reported to the Commission, together with full details of the circumstances and of the nature and quantities of the wastes or other matter dumped.

References:

Annex 2, Article 7, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

Pollution from offshore sources

The contracting parties must also take all possible steps to prevent and eliminate pollution from offshore sources and Annex III provides the details. As with pollution from land-based sources, when adopting programmes and measures to prevent and eliminate pollution from offshore sources contracting parties must use best available techniques, best environmental practice and clean technology. Contracting parties should also refer to the criteria given in Appendix 2 when drawing up these programmes and measures.

References:

Article 5 and Annex III, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

Any dumping of wastes or other matter from offshore installations is prohibited and this prohibition does not relate to discharges or emissions from offshore sources. In addition, this prohibition does not apply to carbon dioxide streams from carbon dioxide capture processes for storage, provided:

References:

Annex III, Article 3, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• disposal is into a sub-soil geological formation
• the streams consist overwhelmingly of carbon dioxide
• no wastes or other matter are added for the purpose of disposing of those wastes or other matter
• they are intended to be retained in these formations permanently and will not lead to significant adverse consequences for the marine environment, human health and other legitimate uses of the maritime area

Contracting parties must ensure that any streams referred to are only disposed with authorisation and regulation by competent authorities.

References:

Annex III, Article 3(4), Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

Similarly, no disused offshore installation or disused offshore pipeline can be dumped and no disused offshore installation can be left wholly or partly in place in the maritime area without a permit issued by the competent authority of the relevant contracting party on a case-by-case basis.

References:

Annex III, Article 5, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

Further details on the prevention and elimination of pollution from offshore sources are set out in Articles 6–10 of Annex III.

Assessment of the quality of the marine environment

Contracting parties must undertake and publish at regular intervals joint assessments of the quality status of the marine environment and evaluate the effectiveness of the measures taken and planned for marine protection. Annex IV provides the details on how this should be undertaken.

References:

Article 6 and Annex IV, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

Pollution from other sources

Contracting parties must co-operate with a view to adding Annexes and prescribing measures, procedures and standards to protect the maritime area against pollution from other sources, to the extent that such pollution is not already the subject of effective measures agreed by other international organisations or prescribed by other international conventions.

References:

Article 7, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

Scientific and technical research

To further the aims of OSPAR, contracting parties must establish complementary or joint programmes of scientific or technical research which they must communicate with the Commission.

References:

Article 8, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

Administration of OSPAR

A number of Articles in OSPAR deal with the administration of the convention and Commission and set out the procedures for matters such as:

• how access to information is supported (this was the first provision promoting access to information in an international treaty)

References:

Article 9, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• how decisions and recommendations shall be adopted

References:

Articles 13 and 24, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• how OSPAR can be amended

References:

Articles 15–19, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• how transboundary pollution should be dealt with

References:

Article 21, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• reporting to the Commission

References:

Article 22, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• assessing compliance

References:

Article 23, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• withdrawal from OSPAR

References:

Article 30, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

• dispute resolution

References:

Article 32, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic

Intermediate Assessment 2017

In 2017, the Intermediate Assessment 2017 was published. This came seven years after the publication of the OSPAR Quality Status Report 2010 (QSR 2010). Since the publication of QSR 2010, OSPAR has been working with other Regional Seas Conventions and the European Commission to develop common and widely applicable assessment tools and many new indicators of the state of the marine environment have been identified and assessment methods developed, while other long-standing assessment methods have matured. These are required for delivery of both the OSPAR North-East Atlantic Environment Strategy and the EU MSFD.

The Intermediate Assessment 2017 is presented as part of a structured online information system and reports current understanding of the environmental features of the North-East Atlantic, which includes assessments on the impacts of climate change and other physical pressures, providing key information on temperature, salinity and other physical features. An outline of the socioeconomic aspects of the OSPAR maritime area and how this will be developed is also available and highlights the importance of combining natural science with socioeconomics, as well as providing assessments that take account of the impact of regulation and environmental change on communities.

The Intermediate Assessment 2017 is split into the following sections:

• key messages and highlights
• introduction to the Intermediate Assessment 2017
• climate and ocean acidification
• socioeconomics
• pressure from human activities
• biodiversity status
• ecosystem assessment outlook—this outlines the latest OSPAR developments in ecosystem assessment methodologies
• acknowledgements