Reference: Chapter 2 of the Progress Report to the 4^th International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea, Esbjerg, Denmark 8-9 June 1995. ISBN: 87-7810-359-2

History of the North Sea Conferences

Background

In June 1980 the Council of Environmental Advisors, an independent body of experts appointed by the German Government, presented its report on the environmental problems of the North Sea. The report concluded that, although there was considerable difficulty in obtaining empirical ecological evidence, there was a case from the limited knowledge about pollution loads that certain harmful substances could cause long term and perhaps irreversible damage as a result of their chronic toxicity. The growing inputs of heavy metals, chlorinated hydrocarbons (and especially PCBs) and other persistent substances were identified for action. The Council of Environmental Advisors concluded that:

a successful environmental protection policy for the North Sea had to be based on the "precautionary principle" (Vorsorgeprinzip);
protection of the North Sea was only possible through international cooperation.

The early 1980s were characterized by certain changes in the economic and sociological climate which, although they differed in their intensity from one country to another, nevertheless affected all North Sea riparian states to some degree. Many countries experienced severe recession affecting particularly the older, and generally more polluting, heavy industries; consequently, there were political pressures not to impose too stringent environmental conditions on industry.

On the other hand, there was growing environmental awareness, particularly in the countries of northern Europe, which expressed itself in different forms, from the growth of dedicated non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to the formation of specific "green" parties with their own political agenda. Even though such parties did not constitute the parties of government, their opinions and actions were influential in requiring all political parties to reconsider and assess their own policies towards environmental protection.

Furthermore, some countries were dissatisfied with the lack of progress in the competent international organizations charged with protecting the marine environment. In part this was due to the wider geographical coverage of the bodies concerned and the lack of focus at North Sea level.

It was in this climate that in 1983 the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany took the initiative of inviting the North Sea coastal states to an International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea at ministerial level. From the outset it was acknowledged that it would not be the aim of the Conference to create a new set of international agreements. On the contrary, the aim was to provide political impetus for the intensification of the work of the competent commissions and international bodies and to ensure more efficient and effective implementation of the existing international rules in all the North Sea States.

History of the International Conferences on the Protection of the North Sea

Bremen, 1984

The discovery of a number of oiled seabirds washed ashore in the German Bight during the winter of 1983 was a further occurrence which prompted the German Government to propose an international conference for the protection of the North Sea environment. The purpose was to make a political declaration which, from a North Sea perspective, would stimulate and further ongoing work within the existing international conventions (e.g. the Oslo Convention for dumping at sea; the Paris Convention for pollution from landbased sources; the IMO Conventions for shipping issues).

At a preparatory meeting of all the North Sea coastal states in December 1983 an important agreement was reached that the Conference should not restrict itself to general principles but should examine all pollution sources and adopt definite decisions. The decision to address all pollution sources ensured that a holistic approach to the North Sea’s environmental problems would be followed and it enabled both ministers and their advisors to look at the wider problems rather than through the constraints imposed by the respective scope of the existing international legal frameworks.

In preparation, expert groups compiled resolution proposals on the range of subjects to be discussed at the Conference. Subsequently, a hearing took place in August 1984 at which international associations and NGOs presented their suggestions. In September 1984 the preparatory work was concluded in Wilhelmshaven at a meeting of the permanent Secretaries of State responsible for North Sea affairs. Finally, the Conference itself was held in Bremen from 31 October to 1 November 1984 and was attended by the Ministers responsible for the protection of the North Sea of all the riparian states (Belgium, Denmark, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom) and by the Member of the European Commission responsible for environmental protection. Observers from the states which were parties to the Oslo and Paris Conventions and Member States of the EEC also attended the Conference, as did representatives of the international bodies concerned.

Although the Bremen Conference was initially envisaged as a unique event, the Ministers welcomed the invitation of the United Kingdom Government to host a Second International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea for the purpose of reviewing the implementation and effectiveness of the decisions taken in Bremen and to adopt further concrete measures for the maintenance of the quality of the North Sea.

London, 1987

The United Kingdom set out with the intention that the London Conference should reach conclusions about the state of the North Sea having regard to the best scientific evidence available, in other words that it should be science based and the preparatory work would produce a comprehensive quality status report (QSR) of the North Sea environment. The focus of the London Conference was essentially determined by the political priorities of the North Sea States. After 21 months, the preparatory work was concluded at a meeting of the permanent Secretaries of State in Edinburgh in September 1987. The Second International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea took place in London on 24 and 25 November 1987 and was attended by representatives of the same interests as the First Conference. For the first time, NGOs were permitted to attend the opening session only and make brief statements to the Conference.

Based on the gaps in the data in evidence in the QSR, the London Conference concluded that there was a need to enhance the scientific knowledge and understanding of the North Sea. Although a great deal was known, the QSR showed that there were still shortcomings in the data and that it was not possible to make links between contaminant levels and environmental changes. The Oslo and Paris Commissions and ICES were therefore charged with establishing a joint working group, which was subsequently instituted as the North Sea Task Force (NSTF), to organize a coordinated scientific programme leading, in a reasonable timescale, to a dependable and comprehensive statement of circulation patterns, inputs and dispersion of contaminants, ecological conditions and effects of human activities in the North Sea.

The Hague, 1990

It was also decided in London that a Third Conference should be held at Ministerial level in the Netherlands in early 1990 in order to review the implementation of commitments entered into at the First and Second North Sea Conferences and, in particular, to evaluate the measures agreed in the London Declaration from a policy viewpoint. The international preparations began with a high level government executives’ meeting at The Hague in October 1988 and was effected by the establishment of a Preparatory Working Group with several sub-groups. The Third International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea was held in The Hague on 7 and 8 March 1990 and was the subject of much media attention and public interest. In recognition of the importance of the contribution of riverine inputs to the North Sea, the ministers were joined for the first time by a colleague from the Swiss Confederation, whose government also endorsed the commitments entered into at Bremen and London. Observers from the former Czechoslovakia and the former German Democratic Republic also attended the Conference.

Intermediate Ministerial Meeting, Copenhagen, 1993

The Hague Conference accepted the offer of the Danish Government to host a Fourth International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea in 1995. It was also agreed to hold an Intermediate Ministerial Meeting (IMM) in 1993:

to discuss the 1993 Quality Status Report on the North Sea;
to evaluate the actions taken within IMO on Annex I and Annex II of MARPOL 73/78 and to decide what additional measures might be required, including the possibility of declaring the North Sea a Special Area under these Annexes;
to discuss problems of implementation of the North Sea Conference Declaration with regard to nutrients and pesticides, for which purpose Ministers of Agriculture would also participate.

The IMM-93 was held in Copenhagen on 7 and 8 December 1993. It was essentially a review meeting to determine at ministerial level what issues needed to be addressed in preparation for the Fourth North Sea Conference.

Principal Outcome of the North Sea Conferences

The Bremen Declaration

In the Bremen Declaration the Ministers underlined their joint responsibility in safeguarding the North Sea as an important and irreplaceable ecosystem, and in doing so they undertook to bring forward a number of initiatives to improve the protection of the North Sea. These initiatives focused on five main areas:

reduction of inputs from rivers and coastal waters to the North Sea by quickly establishing further internationally binding measures;
reduction of atmospheric pollution through the preparation of a new Protocol to the Paris Convention;
reduction of pollution from ships, off-shore platforms and waste dumping at sea, as well as strengthening the possibilities to combat oil pollution by extension of existing conventions and cooperation (e.g. by coordinated aerial surveillance);
promotion of environmentally compatible technologies and products;
improvement of joint monitoring and assessment of the North Sea environment.

The Bremen Conference brought together for the first time the Ministers responsible for the protection of the North Sea environment to discuss common problems in a specific geographical context. It brought political focus on an important ecosystem which is the responsibility of all neighbouring states. It did indeed result in increased activity within the international fora as a result of the heightened political interest. Perhaps most significantly, it paved the way for further political activity on the North Sea at subsequent Ministerial Conferences.

The London Declaration

One of the most important political decisions at the London Conference was the acceptance by all North Sea States that the basis of their action in regard to the reduction of inputs of substances that are persistent, toxic and liable to bioaccumulate should be based on "the principle of precautionary action" and that such inputs should be limited "by the use of the best available technology and other appropriate measures". The key elements of the political programme which was agreed at the London Conference were:

a substantial reduction (of the order of 50%) between 1985 and 1995 in total inputs to the North Sea via rivers and estuaries of substances that are persistent, toxic and liable to bioaccumulate;
a substantial reduction (of the order of 50%) between 1985 and 1995 in inputs of phosphorus and nitrogen to those areas of the North Sea where such inputs are likely, directly or indirectly, to cause pollution;
to prepare national action plans to achieve both these goals;
to reduce atmospheric emissions of pollutants from key industrial and other sectors by taking appropriate action, including the use of strict emission standards based upon best available technology, if practicable within 4 years;
to phase out the dumping of industrial wastes in the North Sea by 31 December 1989;
to reduce the use of marine incineration by not less than 65% by 1 January 1991 and to phase out the practice totally by 31 December 1994;
to initiate action within IMO for designating the North Sea a Special Area for the purpose of Annex V (garbage) of MARPOL 73/78.

Ministers repeated their commitment to renewed efforts, both nationally and within the framework of the international conventions, to take measures which would protect the North Sea. One of these measures was the decision to establish the North Sea Task Force to enhance the scientific knowledge and understanding of the North Sea.

The Hague Declaration

The principal task of The Hague Conference was to review the implementation of the Bremen and London Conferences and to clarify the political decisions in measurable terms. For example, with respect to inputs of hazardous substances, a list of 36 substances was identified in respect of the 50% reduction target and a 70% reduction target was established for the most dangerous substances to the environment, i.e. dioxins, cadmium, mercury and lead. Further concrete steps were taken to alleviate eutrophication: notably measures with respect to municipal waste water and industrial effluents and measures in agriculture. The termination date for marine incineration was brought forward to 31 December 1991.

As regards new measures, agreement was reached to phase out and destroy PCBs and hazardous PCB-substitutes and to aim for a substantial reduction in the quantities of pesticides reaching the North Sea. The Ministers also turned their attention for the first time to matters concerning the protection of species and habitats (a Memorandum of Understanding on Small Cetaceans in the North Sea was adopted) and on the impact of fishing activities. It was further agreed to seek a global strengthening of the regulations for ships’ operational discharges of oil and chemical residues, and to exercise greater control over the activities of the off-shore industry.

Statement of Conclusions of the IMM-93

In preparing for the Fourth North Sea Conference, the Intermediate Ministerial Meeting (IMM-93) in Copenhagen reached conclusions on:

the need for measures to make significant reductions (of the order of 50%) of anthropogenic inputs of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) between 1985 and 2000 from all sources of concern to the marine environment;
the possible need for a joint initiative to designate the North Sea as a Special Area for the purposes of Annexes I and II of MARPOL 73/78 and to study intersessionally the possibility of declaring the North Sea a Special Area for the purposes of the new air pollution Annex;
the need for proposals on economic arrangements, control and moni-toring systems for port reception facilities;
an agreement to work to adopt international rules as soon as possible concerning liability and compensation for damage caused by accidents involving ships carrying cargoes of hazardous and noxious substances;
the acknowledgement that, although most North Sea States expect to reach the 50% reduction target for phosphorus, the 50% nitrogen target will not be achieved mainly because the reductions in the agriculture sector are insufficient, as well as the time lag between the application of measures and their effects; the Ministers encouraged the development of an operational definition of balanced fertilization with a view to adoption as a common international standard;
the fact that insufficient progress had been made in reducing the use of pesticides to reach the goals of The Hague Declaration.

The IMM-93 was particularly noteworthy in that it provided the first opportunity for a cross-sectoral approach at political level to certain environmental problems affecting the North Sea. Ministers of agriculture were able to discuss issues of common concern, notably measures for nutrients and pesticides, with their colleagues responsible for the protection of the North Sea environment. The Ministers drew attention to the need for suitable regimes for the protection of coastal and marine areas (including species and habitats) and to the importance of fisheries management in the context of safeguarding the sustainability of the North Sea ecosystem as a whole.

The Work of the North Sea Task Force

The first international Report on the Quality Status of the North Sea was that compiled by the Group of Experts which was commissioned to prepare a synthesis of the scientific material submitted by North Sea riparian states and the European Commission to the Bremen Conference. Their report was presented to the preparatory meeting of State Secretaries at Wilhelmshaven (September 1984).

In line with the policy that the Second North Sea Conference should be science based, a revised and updated QSR was prepared in 1987. Whereas the report prepared for the Bremen Conference was essentially a compilation of the national reports and opinions of North Sea States, the 1987 QSR was the first attempt to produce a synthesized overview of the North Sea ecosystem describing its human uses, its physical oceanography, the inputs and concentrations of inorganic and organic contaminants, the ecological effects, trends and an overall assessment of the status of the North Sea.

Although the 1987 QSR demonstrated that much was known about the North Sea ecosystem, it also showed that there were shortcomings in the data and that it was not possible to make links between contaminant levels and environmental changes. The London Conference concluded that there was a need to enhance the scientific knowledge and understanding of the North Sea and the Oslo and Paris Commissions and ICES were therefore charged with establishing a joint working group, which was subsequently instituted as the North Sea Task Force (NSTF), to organize a coordinated scientific programme leading, in a reasonable timescale, to a dependable and comprehensive statement of circulation patterns, inputs and dispersion of contaminants, ecological conditions and effects of human activities in the North Sea.

An interim report from the NSTF was submitted to The Hague Conference in 1990. This was not an attempt to update the 1987 QSR. It contained the results of scientific research on two major ecological incidents in the North Sea which had occurred since the London Conference: the exceptional algal blooms and the seals epidemic. In addition, the NSTF identified four sensitive issues which it considered deserved special attention because of recent developments in scientific knowledge and understanding:

the impact of the fishing industry on the North Sea ecosystem;
surveillance of chemicals not usually covered in routine monitoring programmes;
the environmental impact of persistent chemicals;
the role of atmospheric input as a source of contaminants to the North Sea.

The Hague Declaration invited the NSTF to address these issues in the 1993 QSR and also added a number of additional tasks, such as elaborating techniques for the development of ecological objectives for the North Sea, elaborating first proposals for possible methods for the reconstruction of already damaged ecosystems, and considering the possibilities of developing analytical tools to assess and compare the effects that policy decisions have on the North Sea.

The NSTF completed its task and published an updated North Sea Quality Status Report in 1993. The report was welcomed by Ministers at the IMM in Copenhagen in December 1993 and was debated by the international scientific community, including representatives of NGOs, at a Scientific Symposium at Ebeltoft, Denmark, on 18 - 21 April 1994.

Role and Influence of the North Sea Conferences

Whilst the pertinent Conventions and their executive bodies are rather specialised in their scope, the International Conferences on the Protection of the North Sea have the advantage of providing a political framework for a broad and comprehesive assessment of the measures needed to protect the North Sea environment. This enables Ministers to deal with a broad range of North Sea issues and allows them to respond swiftly and to focus on key issues at each Conference. The follow-up to the political decisions taken within the framework of the INSCs is taken, not only at national level, but often within the framework of the competent international bodies in order to give legal effect to the political commitments.

Apart from the decisions for agreed action to protect the North Sea recorded in the Conference Declarations, the most important of which are summarised above, the North Sea Conferences have played an important role in influencing environmental management decisions on a much wider level.

It should be remembered that the dominant debate during the early 1980s was whether pollution control measures should be based on uniform emission standards (UES) or environmental quality objectives (EQO). The debate had serious implications, not only for environmental protection but also for industrial costs and international competition. The argument had far reaching effects and permeated most international discussions on the environment at that time, especially in the framework of the EC and the Paris Commission. Within the latter, special working groups were established to examine the complementarity of the two approaches and, gradually, it was generally accepted that both philosophies had their merits and, indeed, that there was a need for both within a precautionary approach to discharges of dangerous substances.

There was also at this time a scientific argument advanced that the sea had an assimilative capacity which should be taken into account when making management decisions affecting inputs. On the other hand, it was recognised that there was not sufficient knowledge to prove causal links between emissions and effects. It was therefore argued that, where there was reason to assume that certain damage or harmful effects on the living resources of the sea are likely to be caused by polluting emissions of substances that are persistent, toxic and liable to bioaccumulate, even where there is no scientific evidence to prove a causal link between emissions and effects, then in order to safeguard marine ecosystems such emissions should be reduced at source by the use of best available technology and other appropriate measures ("the principle of precautionary action").

The adoption of the precautionary principle, although hinted at at the Bremen Conference, was indisputedly accepted by all North Sea States at the London Conference. Although the adoption of the precautionary principle has not put an end to the debates as to what measures are "appropriate" or what constitutes "best available technology" for a particular industrial sector, it does mean that the discussions stem from the same premise. More fundamentally, it reversed the concept which had guided international policy on dumping for the previous 15 years; whereas the conventions negotiated in the 1970s provided a regulatory framework for dumping subject to certain restrictions to minimize damage, now there was an onus to prove that such activities would cause no harm in the marine environment and to show that there were no practical alternatives on land before dumping would be permitted.

The adoption of the precautionary principle is one of the most important decisions emanating from the North Sea Conferences. Its ramifications are so important and far-reaching that the decision could only be taken by ministers. Once made at political level, the principle has been adopted within the appropriate legislative fora, notably by Oslo and Paris Commisions, first by the adoption of a Recommendation to all Contracting Parties and subsequently by explicit inclusion in the text of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (Oslo and Paris Convention", Paris 1992). But the influence of the London Declaration decision has spread far beyond the North Sea and has become a generally accepted basic principle for protection of the environment on a par with the "polluter pays" principle adopted at the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the human environment.

Over the years there has been a gradual shift in emphasis of the matters discussed at the North Sea Conferences. Although the reduction of emissions of polluting substances is still important - and has indeed become more focused - political attention has been directed at the means of achieving those ends, by the adoption of concepts such as best available technology, including "clean technology", for point sources, and "best environmental practice" for dealing with diffuse sources of pollution. An integrated approach to pollution control has gradually been developed in order to ensure that all aspects of processing and waste management are addressed in a holistic manner (including the development and use of non- and low-waste processes) rather than focusing on a single emission pathway.

The political forum provided by the North Sea Conferences has been a useful opportunity to keep North Sea policy up to date with trends in modern environmental concepts. For example, The Hague Declaration accepted the implications of the concepts of sustained use and sustainable development, and the integrated ecosystem approach, as indicated by the World Commission on Environment and Development. These sentiments were not only accepted as matters of principle within the preamble to the Declaration but were reflected in the issues discussed at The Hague Conference.

Hence, Ministers discussed their concern about issues other than contamination by harmful substances, such as the impact of fishing activities and the wider question of fishing in the North Sea as a sustainable resource. More importance has been given to the protection of the North Sea ecosystem per se and is reflected in the instigation of measures for the protection of habitats and species. The importance of the Wadden Sea for the ecological functioning of the North Sea has always been recognised within the framework of the North Sea Conferences whose Declarations have special significance for this unique and fragile ecosystem.

The North Sea Conferences are political events and the decisions of Ministers, as recorded in the Conference Declarations, are political commitments rather than legally binding obligations. In assessing whether the Conferences have fulfilled their unwritten objectives, it is necessary to judge whether political progress has been made. The protection of the North Sea calls for international cooperation by all riparian states - and, indeed, states within the catchment areas of the major rivers discharging to the North Sea - as recognised by the German Council of Environmental Advisors back in 1980. Judged on this yardstick, the Conferences have provided the vehicle for political cooperation: ambitious targets have been set and decisions have been reached unanimously without a single dissenting voice.

Due to the fact that the North Sea Conferences have been held at Ministerial level, it has been possible to agree upon important issues of principle, whose implementation requires strong political commitment from the parties concerned. This commitment is essential in the transformation of agreements of the North Sea Conferences by legal means or into national, or international, concrete action programmes, taking due consideration of the financial constraints of respective countries.

Broad-brush decisions have been taken to reduce emissions by politically attractive percentage reductions. The original ambiguities and vagueness in such decisions have, to some extent, been cleared up, but even if the measurement of their success will be an imprecise science, the important thing is that the government machinery has set in motion the range of consequential regulations which will be necessary to give effect to the political decisions.

The early ambitions of the North Sea Conferences to give a political impetus to the work in the competent international bodies have successfully provided the political direction which would not have been achieved within international organizations working only at the level of officials. In this context, the role of the competent international bodies should be made clear. It should be acknowledged that the political decisions made at the North Sea Conferences would not have been possible without the overall scientific and technical preparatory work concerning the North Sea and its catchment area carried out in particular by the Oslo and Paris Commissions but also, with regard to monitoring and assessment, by ICES. Although the main reporting obligation is on individual North Sea States, the Oslo and Paris Commisions have played a significant role in providing, when requested by North Sea Ministers, synthesis reports concerning its Contracting Parties’ implementation of the North Sea Conference Declarations as well as comprehensive technical background reports.

Although the North Sea Conferences have provided the political skeleton, it has been left to the established legal frameworks, in particular the Oslo and Paris Commisions, the EU (and more recently the EEA Agreement), IMO and the Bonn Agreement to implement Ministers’ decisions by providing the necessary detailed and binding (legal) framework for the North Sea States, in particular through the medium of Decisions and Recommendations adopted by the Oslo and Paris Commisions and by EU Directives.

The history of the North Sea Conferences is proof that the political involvement of Ministers has enabled important and far-reaching decisions to be taken. This is acknowledged by the new Oslo and Paris Convention (signed by Ministers in 1992 but not yet ratified by all Contracting Parties) under which regular meetings at Ministerial level will be convened in the future. Even if full implementation of past Conference Declarations has not yet been achieved, the successes of the Conferences so far confirms the importance of keeping the protection of the North Sea to the forefront of the political agenda.