Governance of the Protection of the Black Sea: A Model for Regional Cooperation

Abstract

The Black Sea is a semi-enclosed sea ecologically linked to the Mediterranean Sea through the narrow Turkish Straits system. The regional Black Sea institutional framework for the protection of the marine environment involves two regional organizations: the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution (Black Sea Commission, BSC), established through the United Nations Environmental Programme in 1992, and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), also established in 1992. The BSC is the body responsible for the implementation of the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution (Bucharest Convention) and its protocols, and the Black Sea-Strategic Action Plan (BS-SAP). The legal framework for the protection and preservation of the Black Sea against pollution is based on the Bucharest Convention and its implementing protocols. These legal instruments were subsequently supplemented with four Ministerial Declarations: the Odessa Declaration (1993), the Sofia Declaration (2002), the Bucharest Declaration (2007) and the last Sofia Declaration (2009). Most of the environmental problems in the Black Sea are of transboundary character and as such cannot be efficiently regulated by individual states. Moreover, many Black Sea resources are shared and need common regional policies. A new Black Sea Strategic Action Plan was adopted by the Black Sea States in 2009 (BS-SAP).