MoU between Bonn Agreement and OSPAR Commission
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Bonn Agreement and the OSPAR Commission to strengthen cooperation between both organisations. By working together, the Bonn Agreement and OSPAR can deliver better, more joined-up and cost-effective protection of the marine environment. The Memorandum was signed by Bonn Agreement Chair, Annika Wahlfried Wikingsson of the Swedish Coastguard, and by OSPAR Chair Richard Cronin of the Irish Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The Bonn Agreement and the OSPAR Commission have complementary competences and responsibilities for protecting the marine environment within the Wider North Sea Area and its Approaches, and the North-East Atlantic, respectively. The OSPAR Convention is a Regional Seas Convention aiming to prevent and eliminate pollution by taking necessary measures to protect the maritime area against adverse effects of human activities so as to safeguard human health and to conserve marine ecosystems and, when practicable, restore marine areas which have been adversely affected.
By signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the Bonn Agreement commits to strengthening collaboration and partnership with OSPAR. Both organisations address common areas of interest such as: pollution from offshore oil and gas activities; monitoring and assessment of the environmental impact of a ‘significant acute pollution’ event under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive; marine litter from shipping; enforcement, investigation, and prosecution of MARPOL maritime pollution offences; risk assessment, etc. Several OSPAR Committees as well as OSPAR’s North Sea Network of Investigators and Prosecutors work on these issues in liaison with the Bonn Agreement.
Closer working between the two organisations will help them to meet those objectives of the Bonn Agreement Strategic Action Plan 2019-2025 and the OSPAR North-East Atlantic Environment Strategy 2030 which could benefit from mutual collaboration. Through the MoU, the Bonn Agreement and OSPAR will exchange information and share experience on common areas of interest to promote cleaner and healthier seas and conserve the marine ecosystem, specifically through the prevention of, and combatting, marine pollution incidents, threats, and risks to the marine environment.
