Mur Lura
Speech by the Hon. Dr, Francis Zammit Dimech, Minister for the Environment, at the 2nd Meeting of National Legal and Technical Experts on the Amendments to the Emergency Protocol to the Barcelona Convention – FLORIANA – 29 OCTOBER 2001
pr1586
29/10/2001
29/10/2001
| As state parties to the Emergency Protocol, we have | certainly come a long way. Our mandate has been clear and will never change, but have we really stood up to our commitments? I believe that we can effectively use the present moment to re-assess and inevitably revise our accounts mostly vis-à-vis our environmental performance. By now each nation should be in a position to know where it has succeeded and where it has failed … and marine pollution by oil and other harmful substances will certainly feature in any national, regional and/or international assessment. |
| Our attitude in addressing the Protocol has evolved | from a defensive approach to a more preventive one in terms of the contingency plans that we have set in place and also because of the regional or sub-regional agreements that we have subsequently drawn up. As the littoral States, our concern to prevent oil spills in the Mediterranean cannot be overemphasized, because the high density of maritime transport and its geographical characteristics render the Mediterranean extremely vulnerable to environmental accidents of this sort. |
| There have been various indicators denoting that we | will need in the coming future, to revise our approach vis-à-vis environmental protection issues. Globalisation for instance will definitely change our attitudes to trade and alter the way we do business. Globalisation will bring about many benefits but one must be quite aware that environmental performance will certainly feature at the end of the day. Forecasts indicate a higher increase of traffic and mobilization of goods and resources . This is enough to sustain the continued need for Mediterranean countries to strengthen their pollution prevention regimes, which is the main objective underlying the text of the revised Emergency Protocol. Another outcome worth considering is the approach being taken with respect to International Environmental Governance. This is a process that is calling for a review of our current environmental protection and pollution prevention strategies. This implies that progress will no longer be measured in terms of the number of treaties, protocols or agreements that we have agreed upon on paper, but will be reflected in terms of the institutional structures and capacity building that we have managed to put in place together with the prevention programme that we had set into motion. |
| International Environmental Governance will provide | the opportunity for the measurement and benchmarking of actual actions regarding for example as to how many effective inspections, enforcement systems and early warning systems are performing. |
| The challenges before us may seem overwhelming. As | Rempec’s host and because of its strategic position in the Mediterranean, Malta feels that its primary vocation is to be representative of all the States bordering the Mediterranean Sea, to help in overcoming any differences in the various approaches and to ensure a unified strategy. |
| It is with this sense of responsibility that I appeal | to you today to rise up to the occasion and ensure that the emergency Protocol retains its dynamic character and continues to be a prototype legal instrument which enshrines the preventive and precautionary approach. |
I shall not take any more of your valuable time.
I see, this morning, that you have ahead of you a very busy agenda. I will indeed look forward to learning of any fruitful progress that will be achieved during your stay here.
Best wishes for a very successful meeting.
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