Presentation by Andrew Hudson at Arctic Ecosystem Risk and RemediationAAAS Meeting, St. Louis, MO 18 Feb 2006

1. Arctic Ecosystem Risk and Remediation
AAAS Meeting, St. Louis, MO 18 Feb 2006
An Ecosystem-Based Approach to
Management of Arctic LMEs:
Experience of the
Global Environment Facility
Andrew Hudson
Principal Technical Advisor,
International Waters
United Nations Development Programme –
Global Environment Facility

2. What is the
Global Environment Facility (GEF)?
 Financial mechanism for major MEAs:
 UNFCC, CBD, UNCCD, Stockholm, Montreal Protocol,
 Focal areas: Biodiversity, Climate Change,
International Waters, ODS; New: POPs, Land
Degradation
 Partnership between UN agencies and Int’l.
Financial Institutions
 UNDP, UNEP, WB = Implementing Agencies
 EBRD, IADB, ADB, AfDB, IFAD, FAO, UNIDO = Expanded
Executing Agencies
 GEF Secretariat
 ~$8 billion in grants since 1991
 ~40% CC, ~35% BD, ~12% IW, ~5% ODS, ~5% LD, ~3% POPs

3. GEF - Threats to International Waters &
People, Ecosystems, and Development
 Pollution: Water unusable, ecosystem impacts, human
health
 Inefficient Water Use & lack of integrated water resources
management: Inter-state conflicts, loss of livelihoods,
ecosystem impacts, climate change imprint
 Overfishing/Depleted Oceans: Ecosystem disruption,
species extinction, livelihoods & $ 60 billion/year in trade
in jeopardy
 Aquatic Habitat & Species Loss: Loss of spawning &
nursery areas, storm surge protection, livelihoods, carbon
sinks, etc.
 Invasive Aquatic Species: Global economic damage est’d.
$100 billion/year; ship ballast water a key vector
 Challenge to meet MDGs & WSSD targets because of
fresh water and marine resource mismanagement/conflicts
 Peace, stability, security, economic development at risk

4. Why Transboundary Waters?
 261 large river/lake basins cross boundaries of
two or more countries
 145 countries have territory within one or more of
these international basins
 ~85% of world’s 64 LMEs shared by two or more
countries
 E.g. transboundary the ‘norm’, not the exception,
for world’s waters
 Weak or non-existent regional governance
arrangements (institutions, policies, legal
frameworks) for most shared waterbodies

5. GEF International Waters
Operational Strategy (1995)
“International waters” includes the oceans, large marine ecosystems,
enclosed or semi-enclosed seas and estuaries as well as rivers,
lakes, groundwater systems, and wetlands with transboundary
drainage basins or common borders
GEF Strategy:
 Assist groups of countries to better understand the environmental
concerns of their international waters and work collaboratively to
address them;
 Build the capacity of existing institutions (or, if appropriate, developing
the capacity through new institutional arrangements) to utilize a more
comprehensive and integrated approach for addressing
transboundary water-related environmental concerns
 Implementing measures that address the priority transboundary
environmental and water resources concerns, utilizing full range of
technical, economic, financial, regulatory, and institutional measures
needed to operationalize sustainable development strategies for
international waters.

6. GEF International Waters Portfolio
~$275 m. to 15 LME programmes

7. LME/GEF Project Associated Regional Seas
Convention/
Action Plan
GEF Implementing
Agency
Executing
Agency &
Partner(s)
GEF
Grant(s)
(~ = in
prep)
Baltic Sea Helsinki WB HELCOM $18 m.
Red Sea Jeddah WB, UNDP,UNEP PERSGA $19 m.
South China Sea Action Plan for Seas of East Asia UNEP EAS/RCU $19 m.
Canary Current LME Abidjan UNEP FAO TBD
Benguela Current LME Abidjan UNDP UNOPS,
BENEFIT
$15 m.
Agulhas/Somali Current LMEs Nairobi UNDP UNOPS, WB,
UNEP
$12.2 m.
Yellow Sea NW Pacific Action Plan UNDP UNOPS $14.4 m.
Humboldt Current LME Lima UNDP UNIDO ~$5 m.
Gulf of Mexico Cartagena UNDP UNIDO ~$8 m.
Partnerships for Environmental
Management of Seas of E. Asia
- PEMSEA (5 LMEs)
Action Plan for Seas of East Asia
& SDS/SEA
UNDP IMO, UNOPS $24.2 m.
~$11 m.
Caribbean Sea Cartagena UNDP IOC/UNESCO ~$9 m.
Mediterranean Sea Barcelona UNEP MEDU-MAP $6 m.+
Black Sea Bucharest UNDP, WB,UNEP UNOPS, BSC $91 m.
Bay of Bengal Action Plan for S. Asian Seas &
BOBP
WB FAO $12.1 m.

8. Innovative Approaches to
Regional Cooperation in
Transboundary Waters Management
 Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA)
 Prioritize transboundary environmental and water resource
issues, environmental & socioeconomic impacts, root causes
 ~25 completed
 Strategic Action Programme (SAP)
 Policy, legal, institutional reforms & investments to address
priority issues in TDA
 ~25 completed
 Strong consonance with 5 LME Modules
 Productivity, Fish & Fisheries, Pollution & Ecosystem Health,
Socioeconomics, Governance
 TDA/SAP course prepared by GEF agencies to
codify experience and best practice; now
available for global delivery

9. Linkages between TDA/SAP
& 5 LME Modules
LME Module TDA SAP
1. Productivity TB issue, threats, root
cause analysis
Regional & national reforms to
maintain productivity
2. Fish resources and
fisheries
TB issue, threats, root
cause analysis
Regional & national reforms to
sustain fisheries
3. Pollution & Ecosystem
Health
TB issue, threats, root
cause analysis
Regional & national reforms to
reduce pollution and sustain
ecosystem
4. Socioeconomics Socioeconomic impact
analysis, incl.
prioritization of issues
Economic instruments,
investments, etc. as tools for
SAP implementation
5. Governance Governance analysis;
stakeholder analysis
Legal, policy & institutional
reforms; stakeholder
involvement (PS & civil society)

10. DEVELOPMENT OF THE TDA
 Initial identification and prioritization of
transboundary environmental and water
resources problems
 Socioeconomic analysis of
impacts/consequences of agreed
transboundary problems
 Final prioritization of transboundary problems
 Identify immediate, underlying and root
causes of problems (Causal Chain Analysis –
CCA)
 Undertake a governance analysis
 Draft the TDA

11. THE STRATEGIC ACTION PROGRAMME
 The Strategic Action Programme is a process of
reaching political consensus on the policy, legal
and institutional reforms, investments and
capacity building requirements needed to
address the priority transboundary issues
identified in the TDA.
 It requires the best possible technical advice
and is based on the principle of collaborative
problem solving
 Requires broad intersectoral participation
(IMCs) to facilitate addressing sectoral issues at
root cause level

12. STEPS FOR DEVELOPING THE SAP
Develop a long term vision for the shared
waterbody including Ecosystem/Water
Resource Quality Objectives
Brainstorm ways to attain the Eco/WR QOs
Assess the acceptability of the options,
including: technical feasibility, as well as
economic and political
Set short-term targets and priority actions
Develop M & E indicators
Draft the SAP

13. SAP IMPLEMENTATION
 Adoption of the SAP – Ministerial Conference
 Donors Conference & other SAP resource
mobilization
 Development of SAP implementation
interventions by GEF & other donors
 Monitoring of SAP implementation – adoption
and monitoring of GEF Process, Stress
Reduction and Environmental Status Indicators
 Adaptive Management
 Strategic Partnerships between GEF agencies
and donor partners

14. GEF LMEs - Regional Ocean
Governance progress
 SAPs/equiv completed/advanced (11)
 Black Sea, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Pacific
Warm Pool LME, South China Sea LME, Yellow
Sea LME, East Asian Seas (SDS/SEA), Benguela
Current LME, Guinea Current LME, Baltic Sea,
Caspian Sea
 SAPs in preparation (6)
 Bay of Bengal LME, Agulhas/Somali Current
LMEs, Caribbean LME, Gulf of Mexico LME,
Humboldt Current LME, Canary Current LME

15. The Danube - Black Sea Basin
Strategic Partnership for
Nutrient Pollution Reduction
 UNDP, UNEP, World Bank, EU
 17 basin countries
 $70 million Investment Fund (WB)
already approved by GEF Council in
3 tranches, ~12 investments
 2 UNDP-UNEP regional projects
(Danube, Black Sea): Technical
assistance, policy/legal reform &
institutional strengthening
 Comparative advantages each IA
 Black Sea ecosystem recovering:
 $3.3 billion in nutrient reduction
investments
 N, P loads reduced by 6, 33% resp.
relative to 2000 baseline
 70s & 80s NW shelf benthic hypoxia
virtually eliminated
 Benthic species diversity doubled
from 1980s levels; Phyllophora
returning

16. SAP Example

17. GEF Benguela Current
LME Programme
 Countries: Angola, Namibia
and South Africa
 Duration: 2002 - 2007
 Implementing agency:
UNDP
 Executing agency: UNOPS
 GEF: US$ 15,000,000.00
 Co-finance: US$
18,000,000.00

18. BCLME SAP: Sustainable
Management & Utilization of LMR
 Regional institutional structure established
 Joint surveys and assessments of shared
stocks
 Harmonizing management of shared stocks
 Assessment of non-exploited species
 Development of regional mariculture policy
 Socioeconomic analysis
 Harmonization of national protected area
policies
 Regional commitment to FAO Code of
Conduct for Responsible Fishing

19. BCLME SAP:
Management of Mining & Drilling
 Regional consultation framework
including Code of Conduct for
Responsible Mining
 Harmonization of mining policies
 Cumulative impact assessment
w/industry involvement
 Coordination of offshore oil and gas
exploration and production actions

20. BCLME SAP: Assessment of
Environmental Variability, Ecosystem
Impacts & Improvement of Predictability
 Development of early warning system for
monitoring major environmental events
 Establishment of environmental baseline against
which to measure future variability/change
 Improve predictability of extreme events to
strengthen resource management
 Establish Harmful Algal Bloom reporting network
 Collaborate with the international community to
assess the CO2 source/sink status of the
BCLME

21. BCLME SAP:
Management of Pollution
 Harmonizing environmental quality objectives
(incl. pollution control, monitoring,
enforcement)
 Harmonization of oil pollution contingency
plans and regional policy
 Common regional strategy for implementation
of MARPOL 73/78 in BCLME region
 Regional harmonization of marine litter
legislation and enforcement

22. BCLME SAP: Maintenance of Ecosystem
Health and Protection of Biodiversity
Regional assessment of most
vulnerable species and habitats
Regional policy on ballast water
management
Development of regional marine
biodiversity conservation
management plan

23. BENGUELA CURRENT
COMMISSION (BCC)
Ministerial Conference
Secretariat
Joint Management Committees
Living Marine
Resources
Joint Management Board
Environmental
Variability
Ecosystem Health and
Pollution
WORKING GROUPS

24. GEF in Arctic LMEs - Options
 E/W Bering Sea LMEs (GEF-4: UNDP)
 Chukchi Sea
 Barents Sea
 Oyashio Current
 Sea of Okhotsk
 E. Siberian Sea
 Laptev Sea
 Kara Sea
(All involve Russian Federation as
GEF-eligible country)

25. Thank you!