| | OSPAR Heads of Delegation convene to advance environmental goals ahead of Ministerial MeetingLast week OSPAR held its final Heads of Delegation (HoD) meeting before our Ministerial Meeting that will be taking place in Vigo, Spain on 26 June. Chaired by Ane-Marie Løvendahl-Eskildsen (Denmark), the meeting brought together representatives from our Contracting Parties representing North-East Atlantic coastal states and the EU.
The Chair opened the meeting by emphasising the importance of progressing a busy agenda, with particular focus on securing progress on deliverables ahead of the upcoming OSPAR Ministerial Meeting. As is typical of OSPAR meetings these ranged across a broad range of topics, including:
- Expanding the OSPAR maritime area to ensure the coordinated protection of an area known to be important for numerous species and highly important habitats, including seamounts, coral gardens, sponge aggregations, and maerl beds
- Tackling marine litter from polystyrene
- Addressing pollution from the discharge of water from exhaust gas cleaning systems
- Regional Action Plans on underwater noise and benthic habitats.
We also considered progress on OSPAR’s North-East Atlantic Environment Strategy 2030 and whether it needs to be updated.
International engagement was another important topic on the agenda. Good progress was made on how to better engage with Indigenous Peoples Organisations in the Arctic and next steps on OSPAR’s role in helping to implement the BBNJ Treaty
Overall, the outcomes of this preparatory meeting were very positive and are a strong foundation for ambitious actions at the June Ministerial meeting.
OSPAR Ministerial meetings are special occasions, this is only the 5th in OSPAR’s 30-year history. They allow parties to promote the benefit of regional cooperation and are an opportunity to check progress, adjust our focus, renew our commitment and of course adopt significant new deliverables to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic. With only 5 weeks to go until the Ministerial meeting, Contracting Parties and the OSPAR Secretariat will continue to work together to ensure the groundwork is laid for concrete outcomes in Vigo. |
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