HomeGPA

GPA

About The GPA

Aims of the Global Programme of Action

The GPA is designed to be a source of conceptual and practical guidance to be drawn upon by national and/or regional authorities for devising and implementing sustained action to prevent, reduce, control and/or eliminate marine degradation from land-based activities. The GPA aims at preventing the degradation of the marine environment from land-based activities by facilitating the duty of States to preserve and protect the marine environment.

Text of the GPA: icon GPA full text icon GPA full text Spanish icon GPA full text Russian icon GPA full text French icon GPA full text Arabic

More specifically, it is recommended that States undertake the following activities:

A. Identify and assess problems related to the:

nature and severity of problems in relation to: food security and poverty alleviation; public health; coastal and marine resources and ecosystem health, including biological diversity; and economic and social benefits and uses, including cultural values.
severity and impacts of contaminants including sewage, persistent organic pollutants, radioactive substances, heavy metals, oils, nutrients, sediment mobilization and litter.
physical alteration, including habitat modification and destruction, in areas of concern.
sources of degradation, including: coastal and upstream point sources; coastal and upstream non-point (diffuse) sources; and atmospheric deposition caused by transportation, power plants and industrial facilities, incinerators and agricultural operations.
the affected or vulnerable areas of concern such as critical habitats, habitats of endangered species, ecosystem components, shorelines, coastal watersheds, estuaries, special protected marine and coastal areas, and small islands.

B. Establish priorities for action by assessing the five factors above, reflecting the relative importance of impacts upon food security, public health, coastal and marine resources, ecosystem health, and socio-economic benefits, including cultural values in relation to (i) source- categories, (ii) the area affected and (iii) the costs, benefits and feasibility of options for action.

In the process of establishing priorities, States should (amongst others):

Apply integrated coastal area management approaches, including provisions to involve stakeholders.
Recognize the basic linkages between the freshwater and marine environment through, application of watershed management.
Recognize the basic linkages between sustainable development of coastal and marine resources, poverty alleviation and protection of the marine environment.
Apply environmental impact assessment procedures in assessing options.
Integrate national action with any relevant regional and global priorities, programmes and strategies.

C. Set management objectives for priority problems for source categories and areas affected on the basis of established priorities. On the basis of the priorities established, States should define specific management objectives, both with respect to source categories and areas affected. Such objectives should be set forth in terms of overall goals, targets and timetables, as well as specific targets and timetables for areas affected and for individual industrial, agricultural, urban and other sectors.

D. Identify, evaluate and select strategies and measures to achieve these objectives. Strategies and programmes to achieve these management objectives should include a combination of:

Specific measures, including, as appropriate: measures to promote sustainable use of coastal and marine resources and to prevent/reduce degradation of the marine environment; measures to modify contaminants or other forms of degradations; and, measures to prevent, reduce or restore degradation of affected areas.
Requirements and incentives to induce action to comply with measures, such as: economic instruments and incentives, taking into account the "polluter pays" principle and the internalization of environmental costs; regulatory measures; technical assistance and cooperation; education and public awareness.
Identification/designation of the institutional arrangement with the authority and resources to carry out management tasks associate with the strategies and programmes.
Identification of short-term and long-term data-collection and research needs.
Development of a monitoring and environmental-quality reporting system to review and, if necessary, help adapt the strategies and programmes.
Identification of sources of finance and mechanisms available to cover the costs of administering and managing the strategies and programmes

E. Develop criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of strategies and measures. A key element in successful strategies and programmes is to develop ongoing means of determining whether they are meeting their management objectives. Criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of such strategies and programmes should be tailored to the objectives, as mentioned under C. In addition, they should address: environmental effectiveness; economic costs and benefits; equity; flexibility and effectiveness in administration; timing.

Implementation of the GPA

The implementation of the GPA is primarily the task of Governments, in close partnership with all stakeholders including local communities, public organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. Formulation of national and regional programmes of action is a necessity for successful implementation. UNEP, as the secretariat of the GPA, and its partners will facilitate and assist Governments in their tasks. Instrumental in this implementation process are the UNEP and the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans.

Reviewing the GPA

The Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) was adopted by 108 Governments and the European Commission at an intergovernmental conference convened for this purpose in Washington, D.C., United States of America, from 23 October to 3 November 1995.

icon Washington Declaration English

The implementation of the GPA is primarily the task of Governments, in close partnership with all stakeholders including local communities, public organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. Formulation of national and regional programmes of action is a necessity for successful implementation. UNEP, as the Secretariat of the GPA, and its partners will facilitate and assist Governments in their tasks.

The Intergovernmental Review Meetings are a forum where Governments and other stakeholders meet to review the status of the implementation of the GPA and decide on action to be taken to strengthen the implementation of the GPA.

Two intergovernmental meetings have been held so far:

1. The first IGR meeting was held in Montreal, Canada in 2001.

2. The second IGR meeting was held in Beijing, China from 16 - 20 October 2006.

The Third Intergovernmental Review on the Implementation of the GPA (IGR-3) will be held in Manila, The Philippines 25-27 January 2012.

icon 2nd IGR-3 Announcement
Documentation for the meeting will be uploaded over the next few weeks here.

The Meeting will be preceded by a Global Conference on Land-Ocean Connections 23-24 January, 2012.

First Intergovernmental Review Meeting of the GPA: Montreal 2001

The First Intergovernmental Review Meeting of the GPA (IGR-1) was held in Montreal, Canada in November 2001. Representatives from 98 countries, including ministers and other high-level officials, with the valued contribution of numerous United Nations bodies, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations, convened to review the implementation of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) since its adoption in November 1995, and to chart the way forward.

IGR-1 was instrumental in developing the GPA such that it is now recognised as a valuable tool for furthering ecosystem approaches to coasts, oceans and island management. The meeting focused substantively on the issues of municipal wastewater, integrated coastal and oceans governance, building partnerships and financing the implementation of the GPA. Delegates noted steady, albeit slow, progress in the implementation of the GPA at global, regional and national levels. However, delegates also recognised that: the present models of coastal development need change; new and innovative sources of funding are required; the objectives of GPA need to be mainstreamed into national development plans and financial arrangements; and people and their governments must be mobilized in new partnerships. The meeting endorsed the GPA Coordination Office 2002-2006 Programme of Work with indicative costs. The key outcomes of the meeting included the Montreal Declaration; conclusions of the Co-Chairs; a declaration by the Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment; a statement by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives; and a statement by non-governmental organizations.

For further information please see these documents:

1. Official Report of the IGR-1 Meeting on the Implementation of the GPA (UNEP/GPA/IGR.1/9) icon IGR1 Meeting report English
2. Key Outputs of IGR-1 icon IGR1 Key Outputs English

Second Intergovernmental Review Meeting of the GPA: Beijing 2006

The Second Intergovernmental Review (IGR-2) Meeting of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) took place in Beijing, China, from 16-20 October 2006. The meeting was hosted by the State Environmental Protection Administration of China and attended by over 400 participants, representing governments, international and regional organizations, international financial institutions, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The goals of IGR-2 were to: strengthen the implementation of the GPA at national, regional and global levels; contribute to the achievement of specific targets of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation as they relate to the GPA, the ecosystem approach, and sanitation; and provide guidance on the programme of work for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)/GPA Coordination Office for the period 2007-2011.

Over the course of the five-day meeting, delegates addressed several key issues, including: the way forward with National Plans of Action, a review of accomplishments in GPA implementation from 2001 to 2006; and Guidance for the Implementation of the GPA 2007-2011. Delegates also engaged in 19 partnership workshops on mainstreaming the implementation of the GPA. Over 40 ministers and high-level officials, as well as representatives from 19 intergovernmental organizations, 17 UN agencies and 12 NGOs, also addressed the meeting during a High-Level Segment. The outcomes of the meeting include: a Chair’s summary of the high-level discussions; a report of the meeting; and the Beijing Declaration on Furthering the Implementation of the GPA.

A brief overview of the main outcomes of the IGR-2 can be found here: icon IGR2 outcomes

The meeting report can be found here: IGR2 Meeting report English

The report is also available in Arabic icon IGR2 Meeting report Arabic Chinese icon IGR2 Meeting report Chinese French icon IGR2 Meeting report French Russian icon IGR2 Meeting report Russian Spanish icon IGR2 Meeting report Spanish

Third Intergovernmental Review Meeting of the GPA: 25-27January 2012

The Third Intergovernmental Review Meeting of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Pollution (GPA) will be held 25-27 January 2012, in Manila, The Philippines. Documentation relevant to the meeting is available here.

UNEP - GEF Global Nutrient Cycle Project

Project: Global foundations for reducing nutrient enrichment and oxygen depletion from land based pollution, in support of Global Nutrient Cycle

The project is designed “to provide the foundations (including partnerships, information, tools and policy mechanisms) for governments and other stakeholders to initiate comprehensive, effective and sustained programmes addressing nutrient over-enrichment and oxygen depletion from land based pollution of coastal waters in Large Marine Ecosystems”.

The project aims to develop and apply quantitative modeling approaches: to estimate and map present day contributions of different watershed based nutrient sources to coastal nutrient loading and their effects; to indicate when nutrient over-enrichment problem areas are likely to occur; and to estimate the magnitude of expected effects of further nutrient loading on coastal systems under a range of scenarios.