Radioactive Waste Disposal at Sea: Public Ideas ... - IMO

94 Chapter 6
the concept of an annexed list of substances banned from ocean dumping.
Another annexed list would contain substances requiring special care before
dumping could be permitted. The delegations recognized that present
knowledge of the effect of substances in the marine environment was quite
deficient, and accordingly, the lists were prepared in light of a rapid amendment
procedure for the annexes.” (Lettow 1974, p. 665)
Furthermore, the secretariat was aware that using black and gray lists
was a moderate, piecemeal approach that allowed reluctant governments
to join a global ocean dumping regime and thereby be looked upon as proenvironment
at a time where the public, especially in the Western world,
was considerably concerned about the environment. This would also make
good political sense for developing countries, as they feared that future
“environmental aid” would reduce existing funds for development aid and
that public pressure in donor countries would channel resources away from
developing countries looked upon as being “anti-environmental.” Since the
system of black and gray lists effectively gave governments the option of
not doing everything immediately, the secretariat hoped that it would keep
an all-or-nothing dilemma from arising in the negotiations. It was also
hoped that the approach would help delegations to overcome resistance to
joining a global regime home in their capitals. One member of the
Stockholm secretariat summarized this particular advantage of the lists as
follows: “The black list allows you to have a gray list.” (interviews, Sachiko
Kuwabara, August 26 and 27, 1991)
As has already been pointed out, the secretariat realized early on that
developing countries were very skeptical about the need for international
regulations and standards. Thus, it was considered very important that
developing countries not suspect that the United Nations was on the side of
the developed countries, and the UN wished to demonstrate the existence
of global interest in controlling certain pollutants. It was hoped that the
“basic papers” on pollutants of “broad international significance” would
help to accomplish this. The secretariat hoped in particular to appease the
fear of some developing countries, most importantly Brazil, toward agreeing
to control at least some pollutants. 16 United Nations experts had furthermore
recognized that it was very unlikely that governments would
support the creation of an international agency with planning and enforcement
powers. 17 They hoped instead for “direct cooperation between nondiplomatic
officials in different countries” (Schachter and Serwer 1971, p.