The Caribbean
Environment
Programme

UNEP CEP - Protecting our Caribbean Sea & Securing our Future

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established the Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) in 1981 within the framework of its Regional Seas Programme. It was developed taking into consideration the importance and value of the Wider Caribbean Region’s fragile and vulnerable coastal and marine ecosystems, including an abundance of mainly endemic flora and fauna. A Caribbean Action Plan was adopted by the Countries of the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) in 1981 and that led to the development and adoption of the Cartagena Convention on 24 March 1983. This Convention is the first and only regionally binding treaty of its kind that seeks to protect and develop the marine environment of the WCR. The following video "About CEP - Dive a Little Deeper" showcase the importance of UNEP CEP's work in the Wider Caribbean Region.

 

The Cartagena Convention provides the legal framework for the work of UNEP CEP and is supported by three technical protocols addressing specific environmental issues namely, oil spills, specially protected areas and wildlife and land-based sources and activities of marine pollution. The CEP provides the programmatic framework for the Cartagena Convention and its Protocols.

The Caribbean Regional Co-ordinating Unit (CAR/RCU) located in Kingston, Jamaica was established in 1986 and serves as Secretariat to the CEP and the Cartagena Convention.

The CEP has three main sub-programmes: 

 

Check out our infographic with recent achievements of UNEP CEP. 

UNEP CEP Achievements 2010-2014

The following video is a compilation from UNEP CEP Projects and Activities to commemorate 30 years of work in the Wider Caribbean Region. Please enjoy.