This is a must challenging task, but there are precedents for solutions, especially in Japan. The system of disaster preparedness in Yokohama, for instance, grafting high technology on ancient social forms of social organization may have lessons to teach.
The need for horizontal integration is as pressing at the national as it is at the local level, and indeed we see States in all parts of the world experimenting with new governmental mechanisms to facilitate integrated ocean policy making. The most promising form of these mechanisms appears to be a combination of inter-ministerial Councils involving all Ministries and Departments that deal in one way or another with the oceans, combined with the establishment of Parliamentary Committees on the Oceans and of Advisory Councils representing all users of ocean space and resources, including the local communities..
Proper linkages must be built, and are being built, not only with national but also with international institutions. Here, again, the marine sector is in the lead. The most advanced example of a linkage between local communities and a regional intergovernmental body is the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development where local communities, together with industries and NGOs, once elected, have the same rights as the Representatives of States Parties, including the right to vote!
Recently, the Regional Seas Programme has assumed a major new responsibility, that is the implementation, at the regional level, of the Global Programme of Action to prevent pollution from land-based activities. This really has triggered a revitalization of the Regional Seas Programme, an expansion of its scope and institutional arrangements, including the establishment of a sort of Assembly comprising not only the States Parties to the Regional Seas Convention but also other regional bodies, such as Development Banks, regional Economic Commissions, the regional offices of the UN Specialized Agencies and the "major groups" of the nongovernmental sector, representing "civil society".
Regional organization is an essential component of the emerging system of ocean governance. The regional level is the optimum level for the solution of many problems which transcend the limits of national jurisdiction but are not necessarily global in scope. Many aspects of pollution as well as of fisheries management are best resolved at the regional level. New ways of enhancing technology development and transfer or of integrating sustainable development and human security - essential for the effective implementation of all the UNCLOS/UNCED generated Conventions, Agreements, and Programmes - can most suitably be introduced at the regional level.
At the global level, the very vocal and active participation of the "major groups," including local communities, in the discussions of the CSD and other UN organs is also encouraging. This really is another way of enhancing the process of democratization of international relations.
A so-called "United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on the Ocean (UNICPO) has been established by the General Assembly of the United Nations, on recommendation of the CSD, to
to facilitate the annual review by the General Assembly, in an effective and constructive manner, of developments in ocean affairs by considering the Secretary-General's report on oceans and the law of the sea and by suggesting particular issues to be considered by it, with an emphasis on identifying areas where coordination and cooperation at the intergovernmental and inter-agency levels should be enhanced.
