Despite its tremendous importance and value to human societies, the marine environment of the CLME+ region has become severely degraded.

Many marine ecosystem goods and services are at the point of becoming irremediably compromised or even lost.

Massive action to restore and safeguard the marine environment from further damage is therefore urgently required. The cost of inaction at this juncture in time greatly outweighs the cost of action.
With the support of the UNDP/GEF “CLME Project”, in 2015 countries from the region jointly prepared a 10-year Strategic Action Programme (SAP) “for the sustainable management of shared living marine resources” (2015-2025).

This “CLME+ SAP” aims at dealing with marine pollution, habitat degradation and unsustainable fisheries, while giving due attention to the effects of climate change.

It builds on a long-term vision of “healthy marine ecosystems that provide benefits and livelihoods for the well-being of the people of the region”, and is aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.

To date, this action programme has already been politically endorsed by more than 30 Ministers, representing a total of 25 Countries and 6 Overseas Territories.