UNEP/IG.30/6

Page 1

Introduction

  1. The Action Plan for the Caribbean Environment Programme was adopted at the Intergovernmental Meeting on the Action Plan for the Caribbean Environment Programme (Montego Bay, 6-8 April).1 When adopting the Action Plan, the meeting decided to establish a Monitoring Committee to provide UNEP, as the organization which was assigned with responsibility for the overall co-ordination of the implementation of the Action Plan, with operational and policy intergovernmental meeting guidelines between meetings. The also decided that the Monitoring Committee should be composed, inthe period 1981-1983, of representatives of Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Grenada, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia and Venezuela.
  1. In response to the decision of the Montego Bay Meeting, the first meeting of the Monitoring Committee was convened by the Executive Director of UNEP at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, 14-16 December 1981. The purpose of the meeting was to review the progress on the implementation of the Action Plan since the Montego Bay meeting and to advise the Executive Director of UNEP on operational and policy matters relevant to the activities to be undertaken in the framework of the Action Plan.
  1. Al1 States and Territories participating in the Action Plan and the relevant international, intergovernmental and regional organizations were informed about the meeting to which their representatives could attend as observers.

Attendance

  1. Representatives from seven State members of the Monitoring Committee and from nine additional States and Territories attending as observers participated in the Meeting. Observers from twelve United Nations bodies, international, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations a130 attended the meeting. A complete list of participants is presented in Annex 1 to this report.

Agenda Item 1. Opening of the meeting

  1. The meeting was opened on behalf of the Executive Director of UNEP by Mr.Noel J. Brown, Director of the UNEP New York Liaison Office and Special Assistant to the Executive Director.

Agenda Item 2. Organization of the meeting

  1. The meeting agreed to apply mutatis mutandis the rules of procedure of the UNEP Governing Council as contained in document UNEP/GC.3/Rev.l.

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1Report of the Intergovernmental Meeting on the Action Plan for the Caribbean Environment Programme, Montego Bay, 6-8 April, 1981 UNEP/CEPAL/IG.27/3.

Election of officers

  1. The meeting unanimously elected the following officers:

Chairman:Mr. Manuel Lapez Portiflo (Mexico)

First Vice-Chairman:Ms. Grethel Castellanos (Dominican Republic)

Second Vice-Chairman:Mr. Oscar Constain Aragón (Colombia)

Rapporteur:Ms. Jocelyn Sylvester-Henry (Grenada)

Organization of work

  1. It was agreed that the meeting carry out its work in plenary session only.

Agenda Item 3. Adoption of the agenda

  1. The provisional agenda, suggested by the secretariat in document UNEP/IG.30/1, was adopted by the meeting.

Agenda Item 4. Report by the Executive Director of UNEP on the status of the implementation of the Action Plan for the Caribbean Environment Programme

  1. The secretariat introduced the Executive Director's report (document UNEP/IG.30/3) and provided the latest information on the status of financial resources available for the implementation of the Action Plan.

Agenda Item 5. Review of detailed descriptions of priority projects

  1. The detailed descriptions of priority projects (document UNEP/IG.30/4, Add.1 and Add.2) were introduced by the secretariat, werereviewed by the meeting and, taking into account the available financial resources, the meeting decided about the activities to be implemented during 1982 (see agenda item 9).

Agenda Item 6. Review and adoption of the Terms of Reference for the management of the Caribbean Trust Fund

  1. The draft Terms of Reference proposed by the secretariat (document WEP/IG.30/5) were reviewed. The revised Terms of Reference, as adopted by the Meeting, are attached as annex II to thisreport.

Agenda Item 7. Review of institutional arrangements and coordinating mechanisms

  1. The institutional arrangements and coordinating mechanisms used by the Executive Director of UNEP for the implementation of the Caribbean Action Plan were reviewed. The meeting expressed satisfaction with the interim coordinating arrangements and recommended that the Coordination of the future work should be continued from the Regional Seas Programme Activity Centre in Geneva until the Regional Coordinating Unit is established in Jamaica.
  1. In order to provide the secretariat with continuous policy guidance and to monitor the progress in the implementation of the Action Plan in accordance with paragraph 53 of the Action Plan adopted at the Montego Bay Meeting (UNEP/CEPAL/IG.27/3), the meeting agreed to the following terms of reference for the Monitoring Committee:

14.1To keep under continuous review, through contacts of a technical nature, the progress of the projects of the Action Plan for the Caribbean in the intervals between intergovernmental meetings;

14.2To draw up the calendar and the programme of work of the meetings;

14.3To negotiate, through the Chairman of the Committee, the support of the. multilateral financing agencies for specific projects;

14.4To promote the active participation of - the States and Territories of the Wider Caribbean Region in the Action Plan;

14.5To urge the States and Territories participating in the Action Plan to contribute to the Caribbean Trust Fund in due time, or to increasetheir contributions to the Trust Fund;

14.6To take decisions to orient or re-orient and, if necessary, tomake appropriate adjustments in approved projects, in consultation with the States and Territories participating in the Action Plan and with the relevant international, intergovernmental and regional organizations, as appropriate.

  1. The meeting requested the Chairman of the Monitoring . Committee, in the period between the meetings of the Committee, to ensure effective coordination between its members and to negotiate and decide in consultation with the members of the Committee, as appropriate, on a11 issues falling within the terms of reference of the Monitoring Committee.
  1. The meeting agreed that the Chairman of the Monitoring Committee should determine the date and place of further meetings related to the development of the Caribbean Action- Plan through the necessary contacts with Governments of the Caribbean participating in the Action Plan in accordance with paragraph 15 above.

Agenda Item 8. Review of recommendations of the Meeting of Legal Experts

  1. The recommendations of the Meeting of Legal experts on draft regional agreements for the Wider Caribbean Region (document UNEP/WG.64/5) were reviewed and the. meeting decided that a Second Meeting of Legal Experts should be convened in order to continue the work on the draft convention and to review the draft regional agreement concerning co-operation in combating oil spills. The offer of the Government of the Dominican Republic to host the second meeting of the legal experts was noted with appreciation. The dates of the meeting were going to be determined between the secretariat and the Chairman of the Monitoring Committee. in consultation with the States and Territories of the Caribbean participating in the Action Plan.

Agenda Item 9. Adoption of the budget for activities envisaged in the 1982-1982 biennium

  1. The meeting reviewed the financial resources available in 1932 for the implementation of the Caribbean Action Plan, including the contributions to the Caribbean Trust Fund (annex III to this report) and adopted the 1982 budget as shown in the table below:

INCOME (in US$)
from the Environment Fund of UNEP (EF) / 383.148 / ( 300.000)*
through Caribbean Trust Fund (CTF) / 422.985 / ( 650.000)*
from other sources / n.d. / (1,950.000)*
TOTAL / 806.133 / (2,900.00)*
EXPENDITURES (IN US$) / EF / CTF / OTHER SOURCES / TOTAL
direct common costs / .
coordination costs / 148.948 1. 2 / - / - / 148.948
meetings / 70.000 / - / - / 70.000
consultants / 24.000 / - / - / 24.000
publications / 5.500 1 / - / - / 5.500
project costs / 134.700 3 / 367.997 / n.d. / 502.697 3
CTF management costs / - / 54.988 / - / 54.988

TOTAL

/ 383.148 / 422.985 / 806.133

*Figures in brackets represent the income planned by Montego Bay Meeting.

1Funds committed

2Does not include the indirect cost of support incurred by UNEP secretariat, mainly on level of the Regional Seas Programme Activity Centre, estimated as US$l00,000, through project FP/0503-77-03.

3Includes US$ 54,700 committed to the CARICOM project (FP/0503-80-07).

  1. The meeting decided that the priority projects selected by the Montego Bay meeting should be initiated during 1982 within the framework of the envisaged funds for project costs.
  1. The meeting decided to allocate funds expected to be available for projects costs in 1962 to the project activities listed in annex IV tothis report, with the indication of priority orders, supporting organizations to be involved and the date of their initiation. The secretariat may make minor adjustments with the prior approval of the Chairman of the Monitoring Committee, when circumstances so require.

Agenda Item 10. Other business

  1. Observers fromIMCO, UNESCO, WHO/PAHO, FAO, CARICOM, CCA and Cousteau Foundation presented their on-going activities relevant to the Caribbean Action Plan. The meeting took note of these activities. The special role of CCA as a regional NGO was acknowledged.
  1. The meeting tentatively agreed that the next meeting of the Monitoring Committee should be determined by the Chairman of the Monitoring Committee in consultation with the Governments participating in the Caribbean Action Plan in accordance with paragraphs 15 and 16 above.
  1. The meeting requested the secretariat to distribute to a11 Government participating in the Caribbean Action Plan the contributions and suggestions presented by the observers at the meeting.
  1. The meeting requested the Chairman of the Monitoring Committee to urge the Governments which were selected to form part of the Monitoring Committee to attend the meetings of this body in fulfillment of their mandate.
  1. The meeting recommended that UNEP and the Government of Jamaica continue to undertake a11 necessary steps in order to establish the Regional Coordinating Unit as soon as possible.
  1. In order to facilitate the decision of the Governments of the Region on the structure and function of the Regional Coordinating Unit. (RCU) to be established in Jamaica, the meeting requested the secretariat to prepare for the next meeting of the Monitoring Committee the:

-draft terms of reference of the RCU;

-alternative proposals for the structure of the RCU, including cost estimate for various alternatives;

-analysis of the basic requirements (other than personnel) for the operation of RCU in Jamaica; and

-budget projection covering the activities of RCU;

-evaluation of the progress achieved on the implementation of the projects.

Agenda Item 11. Adoption of the report

  1. The members of the Monitoring Committee adopted this report, including its annexes, on 16 December 1981.

Agenda Item 12. Closure of the meeting

  1. The meeting was closed by the Chairman of the Monitoring Committee and on behalf of the Executive Director of UNEP by the Director of the UNEP New York Liaison Office.