The Bonn Agreement 1969 and BE-AWARE Project Alexander von - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Bonn Agreement 1969 and BE-AWARE Project

Alexander von Buxhoeveden Representing the Bonn Agreement HELCOM OpenRisk Workshop June 2017

History of the Bonn-Agreement

• The Bonn Agreement is the oldest regional agreement established

by governments for responding to pollution incidents.

• The first "Agreement for Cooperation in Dealing with Pollution of

the North Sea by Oil" was signed in 1969.

• The original 1969 agreement was replaced in 1983 by a new Bonn

Agreement covering "other harmful substances”.

• In 1989 the text of the Bonn Agreement was amended to include

within its remit aerial surveillance for the detection of operational and illegal spills.

• In 2001, Bonn Agreement Contracting Parties adopted a Decision

providing for the accession of Ireland to the Bonn Agreement.

• In 2010, the Bonn Agreement Ministerial Meeting was held in

Dublin on 24 November.

• Surveillance for threats of marine pollution
• Alerting Contracting Parties to pollution threats
• Development of common operational

approaches (e.g. Counter Pollution Manual)

• Response operations
• Carrying out joint exercises
• Sharing research and development

Obligations for Contracting Parties

48 years of cooperation

• Practical products
• Joint operations
• Personal contacts
• Professional continuity
• Wealth of technical expertise
• Sharing and cooperation

Bonn Agreement Strengths

Exercises, Aerial Surveillance and Tour d`Horizon

Aerial surveillance and Tour d’Horizon

Increased extreme weather events

Changes in the shipping sector

Future challenges

• Implementation of the Bonn Agreement Action

Plan.

• BE-AWARE Implementation Plan
• Responding to spills in wind farm areas
• Pollution threats from hazardous and noxious

substances

• Ensure the organisation is fit for purpose in a

changing operational environment

Bonn Agreement: Area-wide Assessment of Risk Evaluations

Co-Financed by the EU Civil Protection Mechanism

BE-AWARE objectives 2011

• identify areas at increased risk of pollution,
• the potential for spills in those areas and the criteria for

undertaking an analysis of the socioeconomic and environmental vulnerability.

BE-AWARE objectives 2013

• to identify the most effective future risk reduction

and response measures,

• building directly upon the outcomes of the BE-

AWARE project.

BE-AWARE II achievements:

• To identify alternative future (2020) scenarios for risk

reduction measures and response capacities;

• To model the fate and weathering of oil for the potential

spills identified in BE-AWARE for each of the scenarios;

• To identify the socioeconomic and environmental

vulnerability of the coastline and offshore areas using the tools developed in BE-AWARE;

BE-AWARE II achievements:

• To identify the impacts of spilt oil in the natural environment

as well on socio-economic features, taking into consideration the relevant vulnerabilities for each of the selected scenarios;

• To develop risk management conclusions for Bonn

Agreement sub-regions based on the most efficient and cost effective scenarios identified.

• Promoting common understanding of risk assessment

practices and cross border risk management

BE-AWARE Implementation Plan

• Adopted by BONN 16
• Priorities for each sub region
• To be reviewed annually

www.bonnagreement.org beaware.bonnagreement.org