ICM Prescriptions
ICM Prescriptions

 

 

 

 

Prescriptions on Integrated Coastal Management in Major International Agreements

 

Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) has been adopted as the "framework of choice" in the major international agreements relevant to oceans and coasts concluded since 1992: 

 

Each of these is discussed briefly below. Links to the international organization overseeing the implementation of these agreements are provided

Agenda 21
United Nations Sustainable Development --Agenda 21
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/agenda21text.htm

Background

Agenda 21, a forty-chapter action plan, was intended to serve as a kind of road map pointing the direction toward sustainable development. It represents an ambitious effort to provide recommendations across the entire spectrum of environment, development, and social issues confronting humankind today. In terms of social and economic issues, it addresses poverty, overconsumption and production, population, and human development problems (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998, 80).

In the areas of natural resources and the environment, Agenda 21 deals with the atmosphere, land resources, deforestation, desertification and drought, mountain ecosystems, agriculture and rural development, biological diversity, biotechnology, oceans and coastal areas, freshwater resources, toxic chemicals, hazardous wastes, solid wastes, and radioactive wastes. It has chapters devoted to the roles of major groups, including women, children and youth, indigenous peoples, nongovernmental organizations, local authorities, workers and trade unions, business and industry, the scientific and technological community, and farmers. Finally, concerning means of implementation, it discusses financial resources, transfer of technology, the roles of science, education, public awareness and training, capacity building, institutional arrangements, legal institutions, and information for decision making (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998, 80-81).

Like the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21 is a nonbinding document. Yet in signing the document, governments indicated a willingness to be part of the international consensus seeking to move toward a more sustainable society along the lines set forth in Agenda 21 (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998, 81).

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Prescriptions on ICM

Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 titled "Protection of the Oceans, All Kinds of Seas, Including Enclosed and Semi-Enclosed Seas, and Coastal Areas and the Protection, Rational Use and Development of Their Living Resources" provides the major prescriptions for ocean and coastal management. In Par. 17.5, coastal nations commit themselves to "integrated management and sustainable development of coastal areas and the marine environment under their jurisdiction." The text stresses the need to reach integration (e.g., identify existing and projected uses and their interactions and promote compatibility and balance of uses); the application of preventive and precautionary approaches (including prior assessment and impact studies); and full public participation (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998, 87).

The text calls for integrated policy and decision making processes and institutions ("Each coastal State should consider establishing, or where necessary strengthening, appropriate coordinating mechanisms (such as a high-level policy planning body) for integrated management and sustainable development of coastal and marine areas, at both the local and national levels.") (Par. 17.6) It also provides a series of suggested actions such coordinating institutions should consider undertaking, such as preparation of coastal and marine use plans (including profiles of coastal ecosystems and of user groups), environmental impact assessment and monitoring, contingency planning for both human-induced and natural disasters, improvement of coastal human settlements (particularly in terms of drinking water and sewage disposal), conservation and restoration of critical habitats, and integration of sectoral programs (such as fishing and tourism) into an integrated framework (17.6). Also called for is cooperation among states in the preparation of national guidelines for integrated coastal management (17.11) and the undertaking of measures to maintain biodiversity and productivity of marine species and habitats under national jurisdiction (17.7) (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998, 87).

This section also highlights the need for information on coastal and marine physical systems and uses, information on both natural science and social science variables (Par. 17.8), education and training in integrated coastal and marine management (17.15), and capacity building, including building of human resource capacity, support of pilot demonstration programs and projects in integrated coastal and marine management, and establishment of centers of excellence in the area (17.17). As in other parts of Agenda 21, there is a strong affirmation in this section of the need to include traditional ecological knowledge of sociocultural values as an input to management and of the importance of coastal areas for indigenous peoples (e.g., 17.15, 17.3, 17.6). Also emphasized for international cooperation on both a bilateral and multilateral basis to support national efforts by coastal states in the objectives and activities noted earlier (Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998, 87-88).

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Framework Convention on Climate Change
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
http://www.unfccc.de/index.html

Background

The major objective of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) (opened for signature at the Earth Summit and entered into force in March 1994) is to achieve the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system" (Art. 2). The Convention was negotiated between January 1991 and June 1992 by an intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) appointed by the United Nations General Assembly. The INC completed its work just prior to UNCED, although not without considerable controversy over the extent to which the new convention should set precise "targets and timetables" for stabilization and eventual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In the end, definitive targets and timetables were not included.

The work of the INC was closely supported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to assess the magnitude of human-induced climate change and to recommend appropriate response options to various threats related to climate change. In 1990, IPCC's working group on responses created a subgroup on coastal zone management (CZM) specifically to explore the threat of sea-level rise and recommence appropriate adaptive strategies (Carey and Mieremet 1992: Vellinga and Klein 1993). After developing a common methodology for vulnerability assessments and conducting a number of case studies, the CZM subgroup concluded that successful adaptation to the threat of sea-level rise required that efforts at vulnerability reduction be undertaken within the context of integrated coastal management (IPCC 1992). The IPCCís finding was based on the recognition that a freestanding programme responding solely to the problem of sea-level rise would be limited in effectiveness given the interconnectedness of activities and environments in the coastal zone.

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Prescriptions on ICM

The IPCC's position on the key role of ICM was incorporated into the text of the Framework Convention on Climate Change by the negotiators. In Article 4 of the convention, nations commit themselves, inter alia, "to develop integrated plans for coastal zone management." Thus, the Framework Convention on Climate Change reinforces the more general prescriptions concerning ICM contained in Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 and shows how this management concept can relate to a particular issue -- in this case, adaptation to the effects of climate change.

In 1995, the IPCC issued its second assessment of the issue of climate change (the first having, come out in 1990) (IPCC 1990, 1995). In this assessment, the IPCC slightly reduced its earlier projection regarding the magnitude of sea-level rise expected by the year 2100 (from about sixty centimeters, or twenty-four inches, to about forty centimeters, or sixteen inches) but increased the certitude of its assessment that greenhouse warming (caused by human activities) was becoming a reality. In February 1997, an international workshop was convened in Taipei, Taiwan (China), to further develop ways to fit climate change adaptation planning, into the framework of ICM. Guidelines for dealing with climate change within an ICM framework were formulated (Cicin-Sain et al. 1997).

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Convention on Biological Diversity
http://www.biodiv.org

Background

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was opened for signature at UNCED in 1992 and entered into force in December 1994 after ratification by thirty nations. Like the Convention on Climate Change, this agreement was negotiated by a special intergovernmental negotiating committee, in this case established by UNEP. UNEP had been facilitating the work of a group of experts studying biodiversity since the mid-1980s. As with the Convention on Climate Change, some aspects of the negotiations proved controversial, especially those dealing with protection of intellectual property and sharing of benefits from the use of the products of biodiversity in biotechnology applications.

Prescriptions on ICM

At the first meeting of the Conference of Parties held in the Bahamas in November-December 1994, it was decided that priority attention should be given to coastal and marine ecosystems, given their dominant contribution to global biodiversity. The second Conference of Parties, held in Jakarta, Indonesia , on November 6-17, 1995, gave further attention to issues related to coastal and marine biodiversity (de Fontaubert, Downes, and Agardy 1996). Although the convention itself does not make specific reference to ICM, a principal outcome of the second Conference of Parties was Decision 11/10, on "Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine and Coastal Biological Diversity." Among other recommendations, this statement, now called the Jakarta Mandate,

"encourages the use of integrated marine and coastal area management as the most suitable framework for addressing human impacts on marine and coastal biological diversity and for promoting conservation and sustainable use of this biodiversity [and] encourages Parties to establish and/or strengthen, where appropriate, institutional, administrative, and legislative arrangements for the development of integrated management of marine and coastal areas, and their integration within national development plans" (UNEP 1995a).

As the Conference of Parties and the Subsidiary Bodies of the CBD continue their implementation of the convention, ICM is being seen as an important tool in protecting coastal and marine biodiversity. For example, a group of experts met in Jakarta in March 1997 to discuss, among other things, the formulation of guidelines for protecting coastal and ocean biodiversity within the framework of ICM. It has become increasingly clear that biodiversity per se cannot be protected by specialized measures taken in isolation; rather, biodiversity protection will need to he built into a broader, comprehensive management framework, such as that provided by ICM, for a successful outcome.

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Global Programme of Action on Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities
Global Programme of Action on Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities, GPA Clearing-House Mechanism
http://www.gpa.unep.org

Background

Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 invited UNEP's governing council to convene an inter-governmental meeting on protection of the marine environment from land-based activities. In calling for this meeting, Chapter 17 drafters stressed the urgent need to deal more effectively with marine pollution associated with land-based activities, the cause of the bulk of pollution found in marine waters today. After several preparatory meetings, the conference, sponsored by UNEP and hosted by the United States, took place in Washington, D.C., in October-November 1995. The conference adopted the Global Programme of Action on Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities and the Washington Declaration, which highlights major aspects of the Global Programme of Action.

Prescriptions on ICM

The text emerging from the conference makes clear that integrated coastal management is seen as an important tool in accomplishing the goals of the programme at the national level. Indeed, the first action listed is as follows:

19. States should ... focus on sustainable, pragmatic and integrated environmental management approaches and processes such as integrated coastal area management, harmonized, as appropriate, with river basin management and land use plans (UNEP 1995b).

Although the Global Programme of Action falls within the category of "soft law" and is not legally binding on states, it does deal in a comprehensive and definitive way with a wide range of land-based activities and their effects on the coastal and marine environment. Furthermore, as L. A. Kimball has pointed out (1995), the programme does contain four key elements that, depending on the effectiveness of their implementation, could significantly increase its prospects for success. These are (1) periodic scientific assessments of the health of the coastal and marine environments; (2) means to organize and expedite exchange of information, experience, and expertise; (3) means to coordinate the efforts of the many relevant international agencies; and (4) an intergovernmental review mechanism to consider progress in implementation of the program.

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Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

UN Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island States
http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/sids.html

United Nations Sustainable Development--Small Islands
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sids.htm

Barbados Conference
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sidstbc.htm

Background

The Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, one of several conferences recommended in Chapter 17 of Agenda 21, was held in Barbados in April-May 1994. Its purpose was to explore the special problems of small-island developing states (SIDS), such as those related to their size, limited resources, special environmental problems, and vulnerability to newly recognized threats such as accelerating sea-level rise. From the conference came a comprehensive Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, currently in the implementation stage.

Prescriptions on ICM

Three of nine substantive issues addressed in the Programme of Action (climate change and sea-level rise; coastal and marine resources; and tourism resources) call for the formulation of new policies and programs in the context of integrated coastal area management. A strengthened capacity for integration of economic and environmental policy in national planning and across sectors was also called for in the section of the Programme of Action dealing with national institutions and administrative capacity. In addition, international organizations and donor nations were asked to support SIDS in responding to the call by the IPCC for vulnerable coastal nations to develop integrated coastal zone management plans including the development of adaptive response measures to the impacts of climate change and sea level-rise (United Nations 1994a).

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International Coral Reef Initiative

http://www.environnement.gouv.fr/icri/index.html

International Coral Reef Inititaive Chronology
http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/icm/icri.html

Background

The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), built on existing programs and expertise, combines national and international efforts to conserve and manage coral reefs and their related ecosystems, including mangrove forests and sea grass beds. The founding nations (the United States, Japan, Australia, Jamaica, France, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, and Sweden) announced the initiative at the first Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in December 1994 and at the high-level segment of the April 1995 session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. Accompanying the announcement was an invitation for other nations and organizations interested in coral reef protection and management to join the initiative. Current "partners," in addition to the nations just listed, include UNEP, UNDP, UNESCO, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, SPREP (South Pacific Regional Environment Programme), the IUCN, and AOSIS (Alliance of Small Island States). The major purpose of the ICRI is to raise global and local awareness and to obtain national, regional, and global commitments to conserve and sustainably use coral reefs and their associated ecosystems.

In cooperation with the government of the Philippines, the ICRI sponsored a global workshop titled "Partnership Building and Framework Development" in Dumaguete City from May 29 to June 2, 1995, at which forty-four nations were represented. Participants adopted a Call to Action and developed a Framework for Action. These documents provided background and starting points for six more focused regional workshops exploring regional needs and priorities, held from November 1995 to February 1996.

Prescriptions on ICM

The Call to Action adopted at the Philippines workshop clearly endorsed integrated coastal management as a "framework for achieving the sustainable use of and maintaining the health of, coral reefs and associated environments." Indeed, one of the six principles contained in the Framework for Action states, "Integrated coastal management, with its special emphasis on community participation and benefit provides a framework for effective coral reef and related ecosystem management" (ICRI 1995, 4).

In a 1995 article, R. B. Mieremet (1995) discusses the report of the Philippines workshop, including a statement by John McManus of the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management, referring to ICM:

Problems in the coastal zones of developing countries are generally complex and multifaceted. Solutions require interdisciplinary analysis and planning in the framework of integrated coastal zone management. In most cases, a strong emphasis on village-led community development is needed so as to improve the equity of resource distribution, to facilitate the management of resources by making their misuse socially unacceptable, and to generally improve the enforcement of regulations (Mieremet 1995, 9).

Thus, in the context of coral reef management, ICM is seen as important - in part, at least, because it protects local community interests through its call for full participation of all those affected by coastal resource management decisions and because it embodies the concept of equitable sharing of the benefits of ocean and coastal resource use.

Adapted (with updates) from B. Cicin-Sain, Robert W. Knecht, and Gregory W. Fisk 1996. Growth in Capacity in Integrated Coastal Management Since UNCED: an International Perspective. Ocean and Coastal Management 29 (1-3): 1-11.

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References

Carey, J. J., and R. B. Mieremet. 1992. Reducing vulnerability to sea level rise: International initiatives. Ocean and Coastal Management 18:161-177.

Cicin-Sain, B., C. N. Ehler, R. Knecht, S. South, and R. Weiher. 1997. Guidelines for Integrating Coastal Management Programs and National Climate Change Action Plans. International Workshop on Planning for Climate Change through Integrated Coastal Management, February 24-28, Taipei, Taiwan.

Cicin-Sain, B. and R. W. Knecht. 1998. Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management: Concepts and Practices. Island Press, Washington, D.C. 517 p.

de Fontaubert, C.A., D. R. Downes, and T. S. Agardy. 1996. Biodiversity in the Seas: Implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity in Marine and Coastal Habitats. IUCN Environmental Policy and law paper No. 32. Gland, Switzerland: World Conservation Union.

ICRI (International Coral Reef Initiative). 1995. Final Report ñ The International Coral Reef Initiative Workshop. May 29-June 2. ICRI Secretariat, Washington, D.C.: International Coral Reef Initiative.

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). 1990. Climate Change: The IPCC Scientific Assessment, ed. J. T. Houghton, G. J. Jenkins, and J. J. Ephraums. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). 1992. Global Climate Change and the Rising Challenge of the Sea. Report of the Coastal Zone Management Subgroup, Response Strategies Working Group, March. The Hague, The Netherlands: Ministry of Transport, Public Works, and Water Management.

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). 1995. Economic and Social Dimensions of Climate Change: Contribution of Working Group III to the Second Assessment Report of the IPCC, ed. J. P. Bruce, H. Lee, and E. F. Haites. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kimball, L. A. 1995. An International Regime for Managing Land-based Activities That Degrade Marine and Coastal Environments. Ocean & Coastal Management 29(1-3):187-206.

Mieremet, R. B. 1995. The International Coral Reef Initiative: A Seed from the Earth Summit Tree Which Now Bears Fruit. Ocean & Coastal Management 29(1-3):303-328.

United Nations. 1994. Report of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, Bridgetown, Barbados, 26 April-6 May 1994. New York: United Nations.

UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 1995a. Report of the Second Meeting of the Conference of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. November 6-17. Jakarta, Indonesia. U.N. Doc. UNEP/CBD/COP/2/19, November 30. Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations Environment Programme.

UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 1995b. Review of the Draft Global Programme of Action to protect the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities. Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt a Global Programme of Action to protect the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities, Washington, D.C., October 23-November 3, 1995. U.N. Doc. UNEP (OCA)/LBA/IG.2/L.3/Add.1., November.

Vellinga, P., and R. J. T. Klein. 1993. Climate change, sea level rise and integrated coastal zone management: an IPCC approach. Ocean and Coastal Management 21 (1-3):245-268.

 

 

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