Oceans 'must feature in UN climate change talks'

Delegates from more than 80 countries and international organisations meeting in Manado, Indonesia, last week have urged governments to include oceans and costal areas in this year's UN talks on a post-2012 global climate agreement.

The Manado declaration, expected to be published shortly, calls on governments to take greater account of the links between climate change and the marine environment. It also calls for reducing marine pollution and funding for combating climate change in coastal developing countries.

South Asian countries such as Indonesia and the Maldives have consistently warned about the impact of rising sea levels in the region at international climate talks. During last week's meeting six Asian countries including Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines agreed to join their efforts to protect the region's marine resources.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) also presented a report on reducing marine pollution through the use of market-based instruments. The agency urges policymakers to consider measures such as deposit and refund systems for drinks containers, taxes on plastic bags and other problem products, and fines for littering and illegal waste disposal.

Follow-up: World Ocean Conference http://www.woc2009.org/, plus press release

http://www.woc2009.org/pres_140509.pdf and Earth Negotiations Bulletin coverage http://www.iisd.ca/oceans/woc2009/. See also UNEP press release

http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=585&ArticleID=6163&l=en&t=long

and report http://www.unep.org/pdf/EconomicInstruments_Final.pdf.

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