Discussion Model For A Regional Protocol On Technology Cooperation And Transfer
Preamble
Convinced that Peace, development and environmental protection are interdependent and indivisible;35 that peace and human security must be founded on sustainable development; that sustainable development must be founded on peace and human security; and that both human security and sustainable development must be based on equity,
Recognizing that research and development are the basis for technological innovation which is the engine of economic development, and that new forms of cooperation between governments, academia, and industry at the international level are needed to carry out research and development in high technologies in a manner that should reduce costs and spread risks.
Aware that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982, contains two articles, Art. 276 and 277 which promote the establishment of Regional Centres to be established through States, in cooperation with the competent international organisations, and national marine scientific and technological research organisations, and that such Centres would greatly facilitate, inter alia, the pursuit of these aims,
Bearing in mind that the Conventions, Agreements, Codes of Conduct, Action Plans, adopted at the Earth Summit at Rio, 1992, and in its wake, call for the enhancement of the sciences required to provide a better understanding of complex processes and phenomena involved in pollution of the seas and oceans; for the improvement of technological cooperation and exchange of know-how among member States and their scientific and industrial institutions; for the exploration of potential applications of renewable resources of energy; for the design of improved methods of disposing of solid and liquid waste, and the implementation of long-term pollution monitoring, all of which require research and development in highly sophisticated technologies;
The Contracting Parties to the _____ Regional Seas Convention have decided as follows:
PART I
Article 1 Use of Terms
For the purposes of this Protocol:
(a) Convention Regime means the total of rules, regulations, or recommendations contained in any of the Conventions, Agreements, Codes, or Action Plans concerning ocean space and its resources and uses.
(b) Major Groups means the groups mentioned inter alia in the Mediterranean Plan of Action as participants in the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development, i.e., local communities, socio-economic actors, and nongovernmental organizations.
(c) Network means the total of entities participating in the activities covered by this Protocol, i.e., States, scientific and technological institutions, industrial enterprises and other Major Groups.
(d) Ocean Governance means the way in which ocean affairs are governed, not only by governments, but also by local communities, industries and other “stake holders.” it includes national and international law, public and private law as well as custom, tradition and culture and the institutions and processes created by them.
(e) Regime. See Convention Regime above.
(f) System means the structures determining the interrelationship between and functions of the components of the network.
(g) The UNCED Process means the development that began with the establishment of the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development and comprises the publication of the ABrundtland Report, the convening of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio, 1992, the series of global or regional conferences on the subject that have taken place between Rio and Rio + 10 as well as well as all the legal and soft-law instruments adopted by these Conferences.
PART II Establishment and Purpose
Article 2 Establishment
1. There is hereby established a REGIONAL CENTRE FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN MARINE INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY (hereinafter referred to as “the Centre”).
2. The Center shall co-ordinate a network consisting of the following components:
(a) All Contracting Parties of the _______ Regional Seas Convention (Members).
(b) All regional scientific and technological centres and institutions as well as international scientific and technological institutions operating in the regions (Associate Members);
(c) Major Groups, including socio-economic actors; local communities, nongovernmental organization (Associate Members).
Article 3 Purpose
The purpose of the Center shall be
1. To enhance technology development and transfer through South-South and North-South cooperation;
2. To create synergies between public and private funding at the international regional level, and thus to provide new and additional funding for capacity building, training and education in the marine sciences and technologies, especially in developing countries;
3. To contribute to the effective implementation of the Law of the Sea Convention as well as of the Conventions, Agreements, Codes of Conduct and Action Plans of the UNCED process by responding to the technological requirements of all of them.
PART III Functions
Article 4 Functions
The functions of the Center shall be
1. To receive and provide information on environmentally and socially sustainable marine technologies; generating a data bank to enhance this function, in cooperation with the network and the competent international organizations, especially UNIDO;
2. To promote the publication and dissemination to any interested States of the result of that research and information relating to its objectives and methods and, to the extent practicable, to facilitate the participation of scientists from those States in such research;36
3. To make periodic studies of the technological requirements of all the convention regimes and programs in the region;
4. To draw up periodically a priority list of technologies required in the region; in accordance with the process indicated in Part IV of this Protocol
5. To select R&D projects within the scope of the priority list and organize their implementation and funding
6. To insure the full participation of developing countries in such projects;
7. To organize and facilitate training in various aspects of marine industrial technology, using, wherever possible, existing training institutions in the countries of the region; or by including technicians from developing countries in the R&D projects organized by the Centre
8. To provide consultancy and advisory services in order to strengthen the capabilities of national institutions and public and private enterprises 37
Article 5 Scope of R&D
The first list of requirements to be compiled in accordance with Article 4, para.4 above, should be based on the original documents establishing the regimes. The technologies required for the effective implementation of these regimes would include, inter alia:
(a) Clean production techniques, recycling, waste audits and minimization, construction and/or improvement of sewage treatment facilities; quality management criteria for the proper handling of hazardous substances;38
(b) Computers, software; water management including desalination and rainwater harvesting,39 pollution control technologies; coastal engineering; infrastructure research;40
(c) Energy efficient technologies41 and promotion of new and renewable sources of energy, including wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, OTEC, wave, and biomass;42
(d) Development of selective fishing gear; improved techniques for dealing with risk and uncertainty; technologies for monitoring, control, surveillance and enforcement, including satellite transmitter systems;43
(e) Navigational aids; 44
(f) Waste recovery, recycling, including effluent re-use; sewage treatment technologies; beneficial use of sewage; substitutes for POPs; water saving technologies; environmentally friendly substitutes for materials, products, processes and activities that have adverse environmental effects; compacting toilets; innovative technologies to improve septic tanks; containment technologies to prevent leakages from construction sites, aquaculture ponds, etc; geotextiles; bio remediation; small-scale bio-gas; development of more degradable packaging material; planning “industrial symbiosis;”45
PART IV STRUCTURE
Article 6 The System
The system shall have three principal components:
1. National Coordinators and Representatives of regional and international competent organizations, and Major Groups;
2. The Ministers of Science and Technology;
3. The Coordinating Center.
Article 7 The National Coordinators
1. Each Contracting Party shall designate a National Coordinator. The National Coordinator shall be located, and serviced by, the Focal Point established by each Contracting Party for the implementation of the GPA.
2. Each National Coordinator shall solicit projects both from the public and private sector. To be eligible, projects must
(a) Fall into one of the categories of priority technologies agreed upon by the Contracting Parties;
(b) Have partners in at least two countries, including at least one developing country.
3. National Coordinators and representatives of regional and international competent organizations shall meet twice a year to make a first selection among proposed projects. To enhance the transparency of the process, Major Groups as referred to in Article 2, may participate in these meetings as Observers.
Article 8 The Ministers of Science and Technology
1. The Ministers of Science and Technology of the Contracting Parties, or other Ministers responsible for Science and Technology, shall meet once a year to make the final project selection, approve the resulting Joint Ventures in Research and Development and assure the necessary funding. The Meeting shall also appoint the Executive Director of the Coordinating Center, when such appointment is due.
2. Where Regional Commissions for Sustainable Development exist, these meetings should constitute the “High Level Segment” of the Commission, thus ensuring the proper linkage between joint technology development and the goals of sustainability and conservation aspired to by the various UNCED Conventions, Codes, Programmes and Action Plans.
3. Where Regional Commissions for Sustainable Development have not yet been established, the Meeting of Ministers should be attached to any other suitable regional institution or mechanism as each Contracting Party may decide.
4. The projects selected by the Ministers shall be funded half by the industries that initiated the proposal, half by their Governments and international or bilateral funding agencies. This should create the desired synergism between private and public investments at the regional level. The participation of developing countries shall be largely, but not necessarily wholly, financed by funding agencies, regional banks, etc.
Article 9 The Coordinating Center
1. The Coordinating Center shall be established as a Regional Action Center (RAC) within the Regional Seas Programme. Its Executive Director shall be appointed by the Meeting of Ministers.
2. The Coordinating Center should consist of a Core Module and Additional Modules to be established according to needs and available funding.
3. The Core Module shall service the Meetings of National Coordinators as well as the Meetings of Ministers.
4. The Executive Director shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Center. He shall represent the Center vis a vis third parties, prepare the annual budget, draft the annual report, sign contracts, and fulfil any other duties of a CEO within the mandate of the Center.
5. As soon as possible, there should be an additional module for the organization of training programs. Training programs should cover the sciences and technologies involved in the network's projects, and trainees should be directly involved in these projects as much as possible. Training programs should be of an interdisciplinary nature, cover management and project planning and give an introduction to regional cooperation and development and the emerging elements of ocean governance as theses provide the broader framework within which the new international technological order is to evolve. The training module should cooperate with existing training programs and institutions as well as distance-learning facilities.
6. There should be a legal module which should assist in the drawing up of joint venture agreements, the sharing of intellectual property and other legal questions arising from the projects.
7. There should be a module for data handling, information, and cooperation with technology cooperation systems in other Regional Seas Programmes.
