Open letter to the United Nations calls for action not words

1 January 1998

In an open letter to the United Nations—which has designated 1998 as the International Year of the Ocean - Greenpeace urges the UN to come up with real achievements and not just fine words.

"The Year of the Ocean gives the world a unique opportunity," said Greenpeace International's Executive Director Thilo Bode, who has signed the letter to the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. "With the political will, 1998 could mark an historic turnin g point in the way the world looks after its oceans."

"Fish stocks are in crisis worldwide, we may be about to see a return to large scale whaling, oil exploration threatens marine life and the atmosphere," said Bode. "With a clear agenda of ending harmful practices that increasingly have characterized ou r relationship with the ocean the UN can help turn this situation around." To gauge whether the Year of the Ocean will be a hollow publicity stunt, or whether it will make real achievements, Greenpeace has drawn up 10 key demands.

"Greenpeace welcomes the UN decision to make 1998 the Year of the Ocean'" said Bode, "but we will know in 12 months' time if the UN was serious about protecting them." Greenpeace's 10 key demands for the International Year of the Ocean:

1. Cut the capacity of the world's large-scale fishing fleet by half by 2005.
2. Take necessary measures to eliminate bycatch and prevent further damage to marine biodiversity, including ratifying and implementing the 1995 UN Fisheries Agreement
3. Prohibit coastal aquaculture development unless it has been demonstrated that there are no significant adverse impacts on the environment or on local biodiversity, and on mangrove forests in particular.
4. Stop all commercial whaling and keep all whalers out of international whale sanctuaries.
5. Secure effective implementation of the ban on the dumping of toxic and nuclear wastes at sea
6. Ban the dumping of oil platforms and other offshore installations at sea.
7. End discharges of radioactive wastes from nuclear reprocessing plants.
8. Take steps to protect ocean and coastal ecosystems from climate change— including the banning of offshore oil exploration and development.
9. prevent marine pollution from ships by establishing effective environmental and liability standards for oil tankers and other vessels
10. Prohibit the release of genetically modified organisms into the marine environment.

Note to Editors

1. The UN International Year of the Ocean has been set up by the UN to draw attention to the world' oceans. An ad-hoc International World Commission on the Ocean chaired by former Portuguese President Mario Suarez will issue recommendations which will be presented to the UN General Assembly. A World Expo on the Future of the Oceans will be held in Lisbon, Portugal from 22 May to 30 September, 1998 .

2. At the same time, the Ministerial Conference of the OSPAR Commission—the intergovernmental organisation that regulates marine pollution in the North East Atlantic—will take place in Lisbon on 20 - 24 July. The agenda includes proposals to ban the du mping of decommissioned offshore installations at sea, and the discharge of nuclear and toxic waste into the sea.

3. Photographs and background information on Greenpeace's key demands are attached.

4. Copies of Thilo Bode's letter to the UN Secretary General and Greenpeace's full statement to the UN are available.

For further information please contact:

James Gillies, Press Officer, Greenpeace International tel: +31 20 524 9548;

Matthew Gianni, Greenpeace International Oceans Campaign Coordinator tel: +31 20 523 6279

Background to Greenpeace's Demands for 1998 UN International Year of the Ocean