FEATURE
IMO and the protection of the marine environment – part one Thomas A. Mensah Every year the winner of IMO’s prestigious International Maritime Prize is invited to submit a paper on a subject of his or her choice for publication in IMO News. Here, 2013 winner Thomas A. Mensah, former President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and Assistant Secretary-General of IMO, shares his views on IMO’s work to protect the marine environment. The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent IMO position or policy The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is rightly recognized as one of the organizations of the United Nations system that have played a major role in the development of international environmental law. It has been responsible for the adoption of a large body of international conventions and instruments for the protection of the marine environment, particularly the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships. Rather paradoxically, the development of environmental law or the adoption of environmental conventions was not one of the objectives that the founding fathers of IMO (IMCO) had in mind when the organization was first conceived, and the prevention and control of pollution did not feature in the purposes and functions of IMO when it was established by the 1948 IMCO Convention (The Convention on the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization). Indeed it was not until 1975 that specific reference to “the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships” was formally introduced into the Constitution of the organization (the IMO Convention). In spite of this, IMO has played a truly significant role in the development of international environmental law, and it has made important contributions to the law for the protection and preservation of the marine environment. According to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, protection and preservation of the marine environment involves, among others, adoption of “measures to prevent, reduce, and control pollution of the marine environment” as well as “implementation and development of law relating to
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IMO NEWS | ISSUE 1 | 2014
responsibility and liability for the assessment of and compensation for damage, and the settlement of related disputes and, where appropriate, development of criteria and procedures for payment of adequate compensation, such as compulsory insurance or compensation funds”. In all these areas, IMO has been instrumental both in the adoption of measures and in the development of the law.
IMO (as IMCO) first met in 1959 but international efforts to address marine pollution preceded that date