Opening speech by the Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Dr. Francis Zammit Dimech, at the Conference of Plenipotentiaries of the Emergency Conference to the Barcellona Convention

Lying at the centre of the Mediterranean our vocation is to look seaward and act quickly to save the seas around us from pollution. Ever since Malta introduced before the General Assembly of the United Nations the proposal that the sea-bed of the ocean floor be reserved exclusively for peaceful purposes and that their resources be used in the interest of mankind our initiative spurred world-wide understanding and was the catalyst for further initiatives on a global and regional scale. As a result of that initiative we started to realize the importance of the sea as a source of life to support the dramatically increasing world population.

The Mediterranean region is the birthplace of all civilizations. It is a region rich with history, culture and heritage. The Mediterranean Sea is a semi-closed sea commanding the most important sea routes from Northern Europe to the Gulf region and the Far East. The Mediterranean Sea is also very prone to pollution. For an island like Malta, that depends for half of its potable water from the sea around us and whose tourist industry, which makes up a quarter of our national wealth, is also very much dependent on the sea, it is a priority that the Mediterranean Sea is kept free from pollution.

Malta’s vocation to look seaward was given a boost when the Conference of Plenipotentiaries of the Coastal States of the Mediterranean Region was convened in Barcelona in February 1976 to adopt the Barcelona Convention. To implement the Protocol on Cooperation in Combating Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by Oil and other Harmful Substances in cases of Emergency, the Conference decided to create a Regional Oil Combating Centre (ROCC) which is administered by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and which was established in 1976 in Malta in premises made available by the Government of Malta.

The ROCC evolved into the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC). Since 1993 REMPEC

• was given the mandate to promote regional co-operation for the implementation and enforcement of IMO Conventions for the prevention of marine environmental pollution by ships,
• adopted an Action Plan for the Protection of the Marine Environment and Sustainable Development of Coastal Areas of the Mediterranean, and
• adopted a regional strategy on the prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships.

The advent of globalisation ushered in many benefits but it also brought about environmental concerns. This is due to a higher increase of traffic and mobilization of goods and resources. In this era of globilisation there is a need to sustain the continued need for the Mediterranean countries to strengthen their pollution prevention regimes. These are the main objectives underlying the revised Emergency Protocol to the Barcelona Convention which we shall be signing tomorrow.

The adoption by the Conference of Plenipotentiaries of the Protocol Concerning Co-Operation in Preventing Pollution from Ships and in Combating Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by Oil and Hazardous and Noxious Substances in cases of Emergency completes the process, commenced in 1994, of updating the Barcelona system of legal instruments, to bring it in line with the principles of sustainable development adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and development (UNCED).

The new Emergency Protocol to the Barcelona Convention is the result of important preparatory work carried out during the past few years in accordance with the mandate given and the objectives defined by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention.

The main objective of this preparatory work was to provide a sound legal basis for the implementation of a regional Strategy for the Prevention of Pollution of the Marine Environment from Ships. This regional strategy, adopted by a Resolution of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention had, on the recommendation of the REMPEC Focal Points, emphasized the need to amend the 1976 Emergency Protocol to the Convention in order to introduce the relative provisions necessary for the implementation of the strategy. Steady progress has since been made and the text of the new Protocol is the result of a huge harmonized effort which was incidentally initiated in Malta in November 1998 when the 1^st meeting of National Legal and Technical Experts was convened.

The regional Strategy on Prevention of Pollution of the Marine Environment by Ships aims at the development of regional co-operation of regional co-operation for the implementation of international conventions, particularly IMO Conventions, dealing with the prevention of pollution from ships. In line with the strategy, the raison d’etre of the new Protocol is to incorporate the legal provisions necessary to achieve this objective of regional co-operation, for the implementation of global prevention of pollution from ships conventions, without adding normative provisions to those contained in these conventions.

The social and economic development of the Mediterranean is in particular linked to maritime safety and the quality of the marine environment. In a sustainable development prospective, it is thus more important to prevent pollution than to combat the pollution of the marine environment. This is indeed what the new Protocol will try to achieve through the framework of regional co-operation spearheaded by REMPEC in its role as the Regional Centre for the implementation of the Protocol. In this regard it is significant to note the extension of the mandate of REMPEC to the field of the prevention of marine pollution from ships.

The Mediterranean Sea is one of the seas with the highest density of maritime traffic. Nearly one third of the world’s sea-borne trade, either transits through the Mediterranean directly or leaves from or is directed to Mediterranean ports. Thus it is necessary to try and lessen the negative impact of maritime traffic. Indeed the Protocol to be adopted includes both the response component to and the prevention of marine pollution from ships. Moreover, it also provides the tools to facilitate regional co-operation to respond to and prevent this type of pollution.

The Mediterranean Sea has been a pioneering region in monitoring and controlling marine pollution. Because of Malta’s strategic position in the Mediterranean we feel that its our primary vocation to be representative of all the States bordering the Mediterranean Sea and to help them in overcoming differences in the various approaches and thus ensure a unified strategy. Malta will pursue its maritime vocation with the same vigour that it has shown during the past decades. We not only intend to sign the Emergency Protocol to the Barcelona Convention but also to sustain its objectives.

This is our task. I am sure we are all eager to contribute for a pollution-free Mediterranean Sea.

Best wishes for a healthy debate and a very successful meeting.