PREAMBLE
THE CONTRACTING PARTIES,
RECOGNISING that the marine environment and the fauna and flora which it supports are of vital
importance to all nations;
RECOGNISING the inherent worth of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic and the necessity for providing coordinated protection for it;
RECOGNISING that concerted action at national, regional and global levels is essential to prevent and eliminate marine pollution and to achieve sustainable management of the maritime area, that is, the management of human activities in such a manner that the marine ecosystem will continue to sustain the legitimate uses of the sea and will continue to meet the needs of present and future generations;
MINDFUL that the ecological equilibrium and the legitimate uses of the sea are threatened by pollution;
CONSIDERING the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in June 1972;
CONSIDERING also the results of the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992;
RECALLING the relevant provisions of customary international law reflected in Part XII of the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention and, in particular, Article 197 on global and regional cooperation for the protection and preservation of the marine environment;
CONSIDERING that the common interests of States concerned with the same marine area should induce them to cooperate at regional or sub-regional levels;
RECALLING the positive results obtained within the context of the Convention for the prevention of marine pollution by dumping from ships and aircraft signed in Oslo on 15th February 1972, as amended by the protocols of 2nd March 1983 and 5th December 1989, and the Convention for the prevention of marine pollution from land-based sources signed in Paris on 4th June 1974, as amended by the protocol of 26th March 1986;
CONVINCED that further international action to prevent and eliminate pollution of the sea should be taken without delay, as part of progressive and coherent measures to protect the marine environment;
RECOGNISING that it may be desirable to adopt, on the regional level, more stringent measures with respect to the prevention and elimination of pollution of the marine environment or with respect to the protection of the marine environment against the adverse effects of human activities than are provided for in international conventions or agreements with a global scope;
RECOGNISING that questions relating to the management of fisheries are appropriately regulated under international and regional agreements dealing specifically with such questions;
CONSIDERING that the present Oslo and Paris Conventions do not adequately control some of the many sources of pollution, and that it is therefore justifiable to replace them with the present Convention, which addresses all sources of pollution of the marine environment and the adverse effects of human activities upon it, takes into account the precautionary principle and strengthens regional cooperation;
HAVE AGREED as follows: