Calls upon States to continue to prioritize action on marine pollution from land-based sources as part of their national sustainable development strategies and programmes; calls upon the UN system and the international community to assist Caribbean countries and their regional organizations in their efforts to ensure the protection of the Caribbean Sea from degradation as a result of pollution from ships; calls upon all relevant States to take the necessary steps to bring into force, and to support the implementation of, the Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-based Sources and Activities to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean; calls upon all States to become contracting parties to relevant international agreements to enhance maritime safety and promote the protection of the marine environment of the Caribbean Sea from pollution, damage and degradation from ships and ship-generated waste; calls upon the international community, the UN system and the multilateral financial institutions, and invites the GEF to support actively national and regional activities towards the above-mentioned approach; urges the UN system and the international community to continue to provide aid and assistance to the countries of the Caribbean region in the implementation of their long-term programmes of disaster prevention, preparedness, mitigation, management, relief and recovery; calls upon Member States to improve their emergency response capabilities and the containment of environmental damage, particularly in the Caribbean Sea, in the event of natural disasters or of an accident or incident relating to maritime navigation.

6 p.

Issued in GAOR, 59th sess., Suppl. no. 49.