Resolution
A.870(20)
1998
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE OCEAN
(Adopted
on 27 November 1997)
THE
ASSEMBLY,
RECALLING
Articles 1 (d) and 2(a) of the Convention on the International Maritime
Organization, concerning respectively the purposes of the Organization and the
performance of functions by it in relation to consideration of any matters
concerning shipping and the effect of shipping on the marine environment that
may be referred to it by any organ or specialized agency of the United Nations,
RECALLING
ALSO Article 60 of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization,
which provides that the Organization shall co-operate with any specialized
agency of the United Nations in matters which may be the common concern of the
Organization and of such specialized agency,
NOTING
that the General Assembly of the United Nations, by resolution 49/131 of 19
December 1994, declared 1998 as the International Year of the Ocean, with the
principal aim of raising greater awareness of the ocean, including maritime
safety and the protection of the marine environment, and that Governments and
the specialized agencies of the United Nations are invited to organize
appropriate activities to observe the Year,
RECOGNIZING
that more than half the world's population lives within 60 km of the shoreline
and that 80% of all commodities are transported by ships across the oceans, and
that as a result there is need to promote, through international co-operation
and co-ordination, the integrated management and sustainable development of all
coastal and ocean areas,
BEING
AWARE of IMO's role in the prevention, reduction and control of degradation of
the marine environment from sea-based activities,
RECOGNIZING
ALSO that many Governments and specialized agencies and programmes of the
United Nations system, attaching great importance to the ocean, have started to
prepare for activities at international, regional or national level,
NOTING
with satisfaction that a number of IMO activities in 1998 will be associated
with the Year and that IMO will co-operate with