Rt. Hon. John Battle - Former Minister of Energy and Industry (May 1997 - Jul 1999)

Closing Speech at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Conference on the Oceans

This year has been designated by the United Nations as the International Year of the Oceans. Europe depends upon, and is influenced by, marine conditions more than any other developed continent. It includes five semi-enclosed seas which are among the most intensively used in the world. In May this year EXPO 98 will open in Lisbon. Its theme will be "The Oceans: a heritage for the future". I look forward to attending. I am particularly pleased against this background to have this opportunity to play a part in this important European conference on the oceans.

2. You have covered three key themes today: protection of the oceans and international co-operation, living marine resources, and major challenges for European marine science and technology. I shall not attempt to cover the whole ground of your discussions. But I hope I shall in some way summarise, and also add to, your debate by focusing my remarks on three main challenges: the need to understand the oceans better; the need to develop the oceans resources in a sustainable fashion; and the need to ensure we have in place the right structures and mechanisms to allow us to achieve both these aims.

3. The oceans offer us great opportunities, as well as great challenges. Understanding the oceans - how they behave and respond to change - is vital if we are to enjoy sustainable growth. To understand, we need to find out. This requires us to carry out research which is both excellent and relevant.

4. Studying the oceans is a major challenge: almost 90% of the world s oceans are more than one kilometre deep. They hold the key to the Earth s climate and our well-being on this planet; they hide our longest mountain range - the Mid Ocean Ridge. It is intriguing that NASA were overjoyed when they discovered that there is water on the moon. Here on earth it is the ocean areas under water that create our greatest challenges - challenges in remote working as great as those facing NASA space scientists.

5. The UK is proud to play an important role in the global effort in this area. We have a range of world-renowned scientific and technical expertise. Universities and research centres such as the Centre for Coastal and Marine Sciences, and the Southampton Oceanography Centre (SOC) make a substantial contribution to improving our understanding of how the marine environment operates and how we interact with it.

6. Centres of excellence also help foster international co-operation and disseminate knowledge and experience. Southampton provides the home of the International Project Office for the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE). The WOCE involves experts from around the world in the largest global ocean experiment ever conducted. It is part of the World Climate Research Programme and will produce much needed improvements in ocean circulation models for use in climate prediction. This will be vital in aiding our response to mitigating and adapting to climate change. It is an excellent example of international research co-operation involving universities, government and other research bodies from around the world.

7. The UK will also host the International Project Office of a wide-ranging climate research programme. The CLIVAR project - on Climate Variability and Predictability - is a central part of the World Climate Research Programme which aims to improve our understanding of climate variations, including those caused by El Nino. Only this week - as part of the UK s Science week activity - I saw some fascinating earth observation images (using ATSR data on sea surface temperatures) which showed very clearly the El Nino effect. The Kyoto summit at the end of last year highlighted the uncertainties in our understanding of how mankind might be affecting the climate and what actions we should take. CLIVAR will focus on the interactions between atmosphere and ocean which create our climate.

8. The massive thermal capacity of the oceans means that ocean circulation plays a key role in regulating climate. Europe s climate and weather depend upon the northward transfer of heat in Atlantic surface currents. The heat transport in turn depends upon cold water sinking to the bottom between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, and flowing southwards. Records from ice cores and ocean sediments show that this thermo haline circulation has varied dramatically in the past, and recent studies on ice-cores from Greenland reveal a rapid climate change of 5-7° C in one decade. Circulation changes could result in the climate of Europe becoming similar to present day Labrador. Although we know these circulation changes can take place, we are currently unable to predict when they might occur.

9. These changes, together with a wide range of smaller ones, have the potential to have significant economic, social and political effects. It is essential that we understand them better and their implications.

10. We are also heavily dependent on the oceans for example for food and for energy, for transport and for leisure. We need to make sure we use the oceans resources in a sustainable way.

11. During this century the seabed and what lies beneath it has become the focus of two major industries: aggregates and oil and gas. The offshore aggregates extraction industry is a major one for the UK. As technology advances, the pressure to exploit marine mineral reserves gets even stronger.

12. For areas beyond national jurisdiction, the International Seabed Authority must develop a robust system to reconcile access to these resources with effective protection of the marine environment. This is essential as we exploit fish populations at greater depths and the possibility of deep sea mining assumes greater probability.

13. The continuing search for oil and gas in the marine environment is leading to exploration in deeper waters than ever before where the technological barriers are being pushed further and further back. There are problems associated with operations in deep water which will have to be overcome. Should this exploration lead to exploitable discoveries, then a further set of problems will be presented to an industry which already invests billions of dollars annually in new equipment and techniques. The major task of minimising the impact of these activities on the marine environment will challenge the commitment and ingenuity of the companies involved. I am sure they will firmly grasp these opportunities.

14. The impact of the oil and gas industry is under close scrutiny with the UK as a major player frequently the focus of attention. Much of the criticism is unjustified but I am certainly not complacent. There is a clear place for national action here but this is best done within a framework set by international agreement and I am thinking here of organisations such as OSPAR. We are an active participant in OSPAR and strongly support its harmonised, science based, measures to protect the environment of the NE Atlantic.

15. With regard to the decommissioning of offshore installations, we attach high importance to gaining unanimous agreement in OSPAR for the future rules for their disposal. The vast majority of existing offshore installations will be re-used or returned to shore for recycling or disposal. For those installations where there is no generic solution, we should take a case-by-case approach.

16. This is another clear example where we must be guided by science to reach a sound decision taking account of the environment as a whole. A scientific approach is the only way we can protect the environment and use our valuable resources most efficiently.

17. For the UK, and for other countries, a new and major technical challenge is exploiting offshore wind. I am pleased at the growing interest in utilising the UK s significant offshore wind resource.

18. Since I took up my post in May last year, I have commissioned a review of new and renewable energy policy. I want to consider two things: what would be necessary and practicable to achieve 10% of the UK s electricity requirements from renewable sources by 2010 and how renewables can make an effective contribution to future greenhouse gas reduction commitments.

19. I have been confidently assured by the UK wind industry that it can build, operate and maintain offshore wind farms economically and with minimum environmental impact. For the UK Government s part we are developing a set of planning arrangements that will aim to ensure both the capability of prospective developers to operate offshore wind farms, and also that establish suitable environmental protection measures.

20. Most marine issues are regional or global. We share our oceans. We therefore need to ensure that we have appropriate structures in place to bring to bear, in a collective and coherent fashion, our national efforts. For example, a great threat to the marine environment is the discharges and emissions that come from the land - some 70% of all marine pollution. Action on this is at a regional level. But we must also ensure that the Global Plan of Action agreed at the Intergovernmental Conference in Washington in 1995 is fleshed out further. The Plan, agreed by 106 countries, is for the protection of the marine environment from land-based activities. It sets out general approaches to tackling marine pollution from land-based sources. This was a clear sign of global concern about the issues, and the willingness of so many countries, and international organisations to work together to tackle them. It is important that the impetus from the GPA and from work in the Commission on Sustainable Development on improving global decision-making on the marine environment is not lost.

21. It is vital also that there is a proper international framework of law to accommodate the interest of all nations in the use of the seas and their resources. A key element in the fostering of such international co-operation is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which the UK acceded last year. The UK is one of around 120 countries that are also party to UNCLOS.

22. UNCLOS is the first comprehensive legal regime for the seas and represents a package of crucial importance in the maritime field. It affirms rights to freedom of navigation which are relevant to all, and which are needed to promote international trade and development. However, the Convention also contains a much improved international regime for environmental protection, particularly in respect of maritime pollution and exploitation of the seabed. The Convention also sets out the extent of coastal States rights over the seas and the seabed adjacent to their shores; the right of States to conduct marine scientific research; a balancing of rights between fishing States and coastal States concerning management of fish stocks; the provision of a framework for deep seabed mining and the establishment of a broad range of dispute settlement provisions.

23. In sum, UNCLOS is an agreement of real substance. The UK is committed to working within the UNCLOS framework on all of these crucial issues. We want to ensure that sound science and genuine co-operation are at the heart of the decision making process and that the oceans continue to be available for all of us as a resource in the future.

24. The last 30 years have seen a large European investment in oceanography, with joint initiatives aimed at improving our knowledge and understanding of the marine environment. There is now a network of over 300 marine research institutes and university departments in the EU and a fleet of research vessels. This activity needs to be properly co-ordinated.

25. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) largely fulfils this role through its mandate to "promote, encourage, develop and co-ordinate marine research". There are also other co-ordinating mechanisms already in place. For example, the EU, through the framework programme, helps co-ordination through the funding of Concerted Actions. As you will know, at the Research Council on 12 February, which I chaired, Member States agreed a common position on the content, structure and budget of the fifth framework programme. FP5 is a major step forward from the current framework in that it seeks to focus on a more limited number of objectives of clear and direct relevance to the people of Europe. I am pleased to say that there will now be a significant marine science and technology element. There will be specific key actions on sustainable marine ecosystems and on land transport and marine technologies. In addition, there will also be marine research priorities in the key actions on sustainable agriculture, fisheries and forestry, including integrated development of rural areas and global change, climate and biodiversity.

26. Other international groups exist, for example, the Inter-Governmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) whose purpose is "to promote scientific investigation with a view to learning more about the nature and resources of the oceans through the concerted action of its members", and the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) whose mission includes promoting international scientific activity in all branches of oceanic research. In addition, many arrangements for sharing facilities exist, for example the trilateral agreement between the French IFREMER (the Institut de Recherche pour l Exploitation de la Mer), the German BMBF (BundesMinisterium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie) and the UK s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). This agreement enables scientists from France, Germany and the UK to co-ordinate their access to 14 European research ships, manned submersibles, towed arrays and shipboard surveying systems.

27. All these organisations have important roles to play in co-ordinating European and wider global efforts. But machinery is only machinery. It is nothing unless it is put to effective and constructive use, so that we can make a reality of regional and international efforts to co-ordinate and regulate our activities in respect of the oceans. The UK is pleased to play a full part in supporting these organisations in this important work.

28. At the beginning of my speech I said that there were great opportunities as well as threats to the oceans. In the UK, our national Foresight Programme plays a key role in helping us to identify future market opportunities and related technological challenges in the next 10-20 years which will enhance the nation s prosperity and quality of life. It is spearheaded by a number of Panels including a Marine Panel.

29. The Foresight Marine Panel published its report in March 1997 and is now taking forward recommendations through a number of task forces:

• Management of Marine Resources and the Marine Environment task force is focusing on monitoring, forecasting and decision-making systems to support sustainable utilisation of marine resources.
• Energies from the Sea task force aims to identify the opportunities for commercialisation of renewable energy in the marine environment, improving fossil fuel recovery.
• Maritime Transport Chain aims to move away from preconceptions in segmented design and process of the supply chain from the past to a more integrated transport chain.
• Aquaculture 2010 task force aims to identify the research and development needed to ensure that the UK industry is in a good position to supply the needs of the market place.

30. Underlying all this is a firm commitment by the UK government to partnership - especially partnership between the public and private sectors in the creation and exploitation of knowledge, but also partnership between countries. As an example of this at a national level, I would draw attention to recent research results from the Southampton Oceanography Centre (SOC) which are already having an important effect on the environmental management of the continental slope to the West of Europe, the so-called Atlantic Frontier, where oil and gas companies are now exploring for new hydrocarbon reserves. The SOC undertook an integrated environmental survey in 1996 of the entire area under development to the West of Shetland, using its latest sidescan sonar and sediment sampling technology, to survey an area of more than 20,000km². The project was undertaken for a consortium of all the oil and gas companies active in the area. It showed the way in which various commercial companies acting together could work with specialist scientists, Government departments, and other commercial service companies subcontracted to the SOC, to produce a new approach to environmental management in the oceans. The work is a useful model for other deep water oil and gas fields under development. It is this sort of partnership we must work actively to foster for the future.

31. We believe in the UK that it is critical that we examine the opportunities presented by the oceans coherently. We aim to do so through foresight and other mechanisms which allow us to consider marine issues both in the round and for the longer term. That is essential if we are to achieve genuine sustainability and to ensure that all our relevant policies are based solidly on sound scientific evidence. I commend this principle to you all, both nationally and collectively. We cannot afford to get this wrong. I am confident that, with the stimulus of events like this conference today, we increase the chance that we can learn and adapt to avoid doing so.

Other speeches by Rt. Hon. John Battle - Former Minister of Energy and Industry (May 1997 - Jul 1999)

(the following are available from the archive)
• The ACTIVE Conference (11/11/98)
• The House Of Commons Private Member's Adjournment Debate (18/03/98)
• The Institute of Physics Annual Congress (17/03/98)
• The Parliamentary Group For Engineering Development (25/02/98)
• The Institution of Electrical Engineers (19/02/98)