Paris, December 3 - Ministers and experts on the oceans and coastal zones representing more than 55 countries are meeting in Paris this week to define the challenges and urgent decisions needed to protect the world's oceans and coasts. The meeting will be attended by government representatives, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) specializing in the environment, and inter-governmental organizations, as well as representatives from the fishing and petroleum industries.

Nearly 400 experts, including the environmental ministers of roughly 20 countries, will be meeting at UNESCO's Headquarters from December 3 - 7, a gathering organized by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Committee (IOC) of UNESCO, in collaboration with the Center for the Study of Marine Policy (CSMP) of the University of Delaware (United States). The purpose of the meeting, entitled The Global Conference on Oceans and Coasts at Rio +10: Assessing Progress, Addressing Continuing and New Challenges, is to allow oceanographic specialists to draw up a statement of findings and recommendations in preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September 2002, ten years after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

The Paris meeting will be looking into a situation that is alarming for many reasons. According to the IOC, 66% of the world population (3.6 billion inhabitants) today live within 60 km of the seashore. Most of these people live in large cities. By 2030, this figure could rise to 75%, or 6.4 billion people. Such intense urbanization may substantially raise the exploitation of marine environments and increases the discharge of pollutants that undermine the fragile balance of marine ecosystems - on which humans also depend.

The ocean is essential for supporting life on Earth: it absorbs 33% of the CO2 produced by human activities and nature. It also plays a major role in regulating the climate, in ways that are still not fully understood, and which, according to the oceanographic community, require a great deal more research.

The health of our oceans is a serious concern. The consequences of the degradation of coastal zones will affect directly the more than 700 million people in the world live off fishing. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), simply bathing in polluted seas will lead to nearly 250 million cases of gastro-enteritis per year, as well as respiratory illnesses. They also estimate that one in every 20 bathers will become ill after venturing just once into the sea.

Moreover, according to the IOC, by 2050 the level of the seas could rise by 20 to 50 centimetres, leading to the flooding of habitable areas and agricultural zones. The IOC estimates that by 2080 this flooding could potentially cause the disappearance of 22% of the present flood zones, adding to the problems of coastal erosion and the destruction of harbours. Rising sea levels also lead to an increase in the salinity of underground water, affecting fresh ground water in coastal zones and could lead to drinking water shortages.

Subjects to be addressed by the nine workshops of this preparatory meeting, will include the degradation of 50% of the world's coral reefs - a consequence of the warming of surface water caused by human activity and what should be done to avoid this. In the Indian Ocean, between the Seychelles and the Maldives, for example, 70% of the reefs have lost their pigment. And yet, the reefs are a reproduction site for 93,000 known species to date (and probably ten times more). However, because of this reef damage a number of small countries have experienced a drop in tourism, their main source of revenue. This is the case in the Caribbean and in the islands of the South Pacific.

Another working group is looking at the effects of intensive agriculture and aquaculture on some ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, for example, tens of thousands of square kilometres of mangrove forest have disappeared, casualties of fish and shrimp farming. And yet, mangroves, like reefs, are essential for the reproduction of many fish species.

The IOC points out that between 1950 and 1980 industrial fishing and aquaculture grew much more quickly than the world population. In the '90s, over-fishing caused a serious drop in the stocks of marketable species. If this trend continues, the food chain risks being profoundly disrupted. It is therefore urgent, according to the IOC, that the fishing industry must respect the ecosystems on which it depends. One solution to this problem would be the creation of protected areas in the open seas, in international waters. But numerous states oppose this idea.

Various types of pollution and their effects on coastal communities will also be discussed, including pollution caused by the extraction of petroleum, as in the Gulf of Guinea, the basin of Nigeria, or off the coast of Gabon, pollution from the dumping of waste water which affects poor countries as well as rich countries, and finally, pollution caused by contaminants such as phosphates and nitrates, which are used intensively in farming, and are washed into rivers and affect coastal areas where they encourage the growth of green algae. These algae consume a great deal of oxygen, preventing the survival of many other species. This is what happened, for example, in the "dead zone" of the Gulf of Mexico, into which the Mississippi River flows carrying large quantities of nitrate run-off from farming in the American Midwest. According to a report by the World Commission on the Oceans, in the Baltic Sea there is, similarly, a 70,000 km2 area from which all animal life has disappeared.

In light of these and other situations which illustrate the serious health problems of our oceans and coasts, the experts and ministers will also discuss the need for harmonization of international agreements, as well as the urgency of developing international legislation to improve management by the states.

The IOC also underscores the importance of integrating science and scientific findings in governmental decisions: scientists are the first to sound the alarm on the state of coastal environments, but decision-makers do not always listen. Yet the deterioration of coastal zones is most often linked to human activity. For this reason, the meeting will also emphasize the crucial role of NGOs, communities and the private sector in the preservation of the coast, as they are the true protagonists who have the ability to launch and manage projects. Ten years ago, the State principally fulfilled the role of "executive body." The system of governance has since changed.

The Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, UNCED) was held in 1992. At the end of that conference, the 178 Nations and 114 heads of State present stressed the link between the environment and development, adopting a vast plan of action, Agenda 21. Chapter 17 of this framework contains a number of recommendations on the need to address the "critical uncertainties related to the management of the marine environment and climate change."

Some of the principles advanced by Agenda 21 were widely followed, such as the principle of polluter-payer, or those according to which degradations to ecosystems must be foreseen rather than restored. But according to the IOC, the commitment made in Rio to improve the health of our oceans is still far from being respected. One of the permanent objectives of Agenda 21 was to put in place a global system of observation of the oceans and of their effect on the climate; yet, investments in this type of observation are declining. The IOC deplores the loss of will on the part of space agencies to take measures to promote greater understanding of the interdependence between oceans and climate.