Headline: IASS Executive Director opens EU conference on the marine environment

03.03.2014

In presence of the EU Ministers of the Environment IASS Executive Director Klaus Töpfer opened the European HOPE conference - Healthy Oceans – Productive Ecosystems - taking place in Brussels from 3-4 March. The conference marks the moment when the European Union is halfway between the adoption of its Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) in 2008 and the date when Member States should have achieved ‘Good Environmental Status’ for Europe’s seas in 2020 – the main aim of the MSFD Directive. The HOPE conference brings together a range of high level politicians, scientists and stakeholders to discuss the main challenges and possible solutions for better marine governance.

In his opening speech Professor Töpfer called on Member States: “to fully implement the Marine Strategy Framework Directive to achieve real improvement in our marine environment”. In the longer term, he added, this alone won’t be enough though: “We must reduce pressure on the marine environment by transforming our economies and identifying more sustainable ways of living”. That this will require much effort has been shown by the European Environmental Agency. According to its upcoming 2014 Marine Baseline Assessment it is very clear that marine ecosystems in Europe are in a poor state of health in many areas (see Marine Massages).

In a panel discussion with Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for Environment, and Yannis Maniatis, Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change of Greece, Klaus Töpfer also underlined Europe’s responsibility for the global marine environment. It reaches well beyond the limits of national or EU jurisdiction. Referring to the UN Earth Summit Rio +20 and results of the IASS research project “Advancing Governance of the High Seas”, IASS’s Executive Director emphasized that “the EU should also play a leading role in improving global ocean governance”. This year will be critical to come to a decision on a new legal instrument for the protection and sustainable use of biodiversity on the high seas under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Also the development of Sustainable Development Goals will be a key process to come to action for "HOPE" at the global level.

More information on IASS’s work on Ocean Governance can be found here.

Further documents:

Photo: (C)istockphoto/cinoby