10. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
207
Mineral Resources. Up to now the Convention stipulates that the use
of mineral resources might be permissible only upon a very rigid
evaluation of the impact on the environ ment which is confirmed
by the member states of the Convention. The conflict between the
United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falkland Islands was a clear
warning that the lucrative Antarctic mineral resources may call
forth territorial claims.
As a measure of the World Ocean protection, the 1954 Inter-
national Convention on the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by
Oil was adopted to minimise the discharge
of oil and oil waste from
tankers and other vessels. To secure the efficiency of the protection
of oceanic waters, it was necessary to adopt restrictions on pollution
of rivers, on wastewater, air pollution since these types of pollution
also lead to the pollution of the ocean.
In 1958, the first conference on the Maritime Law took place, but
in 1959 the UN established the International Maritime Organisation,
which was entrusted with the improvement of security measures at
sea, facilitation of the development of regulations
and decreasing of
pollution.
In the early 1970s maritime countries began declaring their
coastal waters part of their jurisdiction on an increasingly larger
scale. First, it was 3 nautical miles, then 12 and now even 200 nau-
tical miles.
However, the 1950 Convention on the Continental Shelf was less
ambitious although with time there was a growing interest in shelf
resources.
To tackle these issues, the Third Conference on the Mari-
time Law was held in 1974.
The Regional Seas Subprogramme of the UN Environ ment
Pro gramme brought together maritime countries to discuss the
situation. The conference resulted in a number of regional maritime
agree ments that
referred to the Medi terranean, the Persian Gulf,
the Western Africa region, South-East of the Pacific, the Red Sea,
seas of Eastern Africa and South Pacific. These agreements laid the
foundation for environ mental action plans and cooperation towards
reduction of pollution.
In 1977, the North Sea ceased to exist as an open sea as fishing
and extraction of mineral resources was restricted when the
European Union determined the new zoning of the continental shelf.
Thus, the North Sea as well as the Sea of Japan,
the Baltic Sea and
the Mediterranean became subjects of conventions or international
agreements. The UN also set additional demands regarding the
territories of these seas to ensure an effective control of pollution.
The 1982 conference in Jamaica adopted the Convention on the
Maritime Law, stipulating that the Convention refers to the areas up
to the depth of 2500 m from the shore.
208
ENVIRONMENT, POLLUTION, DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF UZBEKISTAN
In the late 1960s, researchers identified a hazardous and
growing water pollution and reduction of the oxygen concentration
in the Baltic Sea. All the seven Baltic Sea states – Denmark,
Finland, the Democratic Republic of Germany,
the Federative
Republic of Germany, Poland, Sweden and the USSR – agreed on
taking immediate measures to reduce the pollution of the sea. The
Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environ ment of the
Baltic Sea Area was adopted in 1974. Within its framework, the
Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) was established to ensure the
implementation, monitoring and development of a programme of
common activities. At the time it was a unique attempt to agree on
cooperation in addressing common environ mental problems in East
European and West European countries simultaneously. In this way
cooperation ties were established for joint efforts towards measures
for environ mental protection and general security.
In 1984, during the first meeting of the ministers of the Baltic
Sea Region countries, an action plan was adopted concerning four
spheres: reduction of pollution, scientific research, navigation
safety and prevention of oil leakage. The plan could be viewed
as a political support for the development of the scientific and
technological strategy. Solutions for problems
of national character
or implementation of projects were not discussed, neither were any
binding documents adopted. In the second meeting of the ministers,
in 1988, 78 projects were endorsed although many important
problems were left unresolved. Much criticism
was levelled at no
tangible progress, and demands were made for actual measures and
concrete results.
On the whole, many developing countries wished to see the
World Ocean as a free-for-all territory, like the Antarctica, rather
than
have the huge area de facto taken over by the states which had
the most up-to-date technology for exploiting the oceanic resources
at their disposal.
A common tendency can be traced in the conventions adopted
and treaties signed: to allot an increasingly significant place to the
principle of precaution. The countries of the world are called upon
to prevent pollution in case of emergency situations and accidents.
Such policy was caused by the catastrophic accident in Chernobyl,
on the tanker
Amoco Cadiz and similar cases.
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