The Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) is one of the UNEP administered Regional Seas Programmes. The CEP is managed by and for the countries of the Wider Caribbean Region through the Caribbean Action Plan (1981) outlining regional environmental challenges.

The Action Plan led to the 1983 adoption of the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention), which provides the legal framework. The Convention has been supplemented by three protocols addressing specific environmental issues namely, oil spills, specially protected areas and wildlife and land-based sources and activities or marine pollution. The CEP provides the programmatic framework for the Cartagena Convention.

The Caribbean Regional Co-ordinating Unit (CAR/RCU) located in Kingston, Jamaica was created in 1986 and serves as Secretariat to the CEP. The CEP has three main sub-programmes:

• Assessment and Management of Environment Pollution (AMEP).
• Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW).
• Communication, Education, Training and Awareness (CETA).