Conference of Contracting Parties to the Abidjan Convention - COP 11
Introduction and background
The Abidjan Convention countries: Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Congo (DR), Congo (Rep of), Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia (The), Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Sao Tome e Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Togo.
The Abidjan Convention is a comprehensive umbrella agreement for the protection and management of the marine and coastal areas. It lists the sources of pollution that require control: ships, dumping, land-based activities, exploration and exploitation of the seabed, and pollution from or through the atmosphere. It also identifies environmental management issues from which cooperative efforts are to be made: coastal erosion, specially protected areas, combating pollution in cases of emergency; and environmental impact assessment. There are also articles on scientific and technological cooperation and liability and compensation.
The adoption of the West and Central African regional legal agreements was facilitated by numerous technical surveys, studies and reviews prepared by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with cooperation of the United Nations Organization; the United Nations Industrial Development Organization; the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission; the World Health Organization; the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization; and other organizations.
Theme and messages
South Africa is set to host the 11th biennial Conference of Parties (COP11) to the Abidjan Convention from 17 to 21 March 2014, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, under the theme -
Promoting Blue Growth in Africa: Towards Sustainable Management of Marine Resources.
Related links
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Minister Edna Molewa during her opening address at the Ministerial Meeting of the 11th Conference of the Parties. |
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