ICZM Protocols to Regional Seas Conventions: The Wonder Drug for Coastal Sustainable Development?

Because “not every international environmental problem needs to be dealt with on a global level[1]”, the regionalization of international environmental law has emerged as one of the most important legal trends over the last decades. In the field of marine environment, this movement has been taking place mostly within the UNEP regional seas programme, now involving over 140 States. Noteworthily, the regulation of coastal management stood apart from this movement for a long time: while coastal zone management projects have developed at all scales for over two decades[2], legal regulation has long been confined to the national and sub-national levels. From the 1972 US Coastal Zone Management Act to the 2008 South African Integrated Coastal Management Act, domestic legal frameworks have regularly been strengthened in most parts of the world, while progressively translating into law the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) concept. However, most recent developments in ICZM implementation demonstrate an increasing interest for a regional regulation through the adoption of ad hoc protocols within regional seas frameworks. Adopted in January 2008 and entered into force in March 2011, the Mediterranean ICZM Protocol is the first of its kind and constitutes, as of today, the only supra-State legal instrument specifically aimed at coastal zone management. It is however unlikely that the Mediterranean ICZM Protocol remain an isolated, legal alien in the regional seas landscape. The attractiveness of such a new kind of instrument seems to be increasing, as demonstrated by the recent decision of the Parties to the Nairobi Convention to follow the path of the Barcelona Convention[3]. The Black Sea is also more informally now looking at the opportunity to develop such a protocol. It appears timely, therefore, to start drawing some early lessons from the most advanced cases, that is the Mediterranean and Western Indian Ocean (WIO). This is precisely what this presentation will aim at, based on research and consultancy conducted over the last five years in these two regions as well as at the global level. In particular, this presentation will: (i) briefly remind the regional seas concept and institutional framework; (ii) provide an overview of the content of the Mediterranean and WIO ICZM Protocols; (iii) enumerate the expected benefits of having a regional, legally binding regulation instrument for ICZM; (iv) identify key necessary conditions for success on the regional and national contexts, the drafting and negotiation process, as well as the way implementation issues are anticipated. This presentation will thus identify key conditions under which such ICZM Protocols may actually make a difference in placing coastal areas on a sustainable path. [1] Alhéritière D. Marine pollution regulation. Regional approaches. Marine Policy 1982; July: 162-174. [2] Sorensen J. The international proliferation of integrated coastal management efforts. Ocean and Coastal Management 1993; 21 (1-3): 45-80. [3] UNEP, Nairobi Convention COP Decision CP 6/3: Strengthening Integrated Coastal Zone Management in the Western Indian Ocean Region, 2010