RECALLING that the health of marine or coastal ecosystems is today seriously threatened by human land-based or marine-based activities, as well as by the effects of climate change, jeopardising the integrity of marine life and that all these activities put some kind of pressure on these ecosystems;

RECALLING that the sea and the coasts are historically places used for human activities and the development of new uses;

CONSIDERING that the intensification and diversification of these activities lead to an increased risk of land-use conflict, and that it is necessary to organise them in a consistent, sustainable manner in order to reduce these conflicts;

RECALLING that these pressures may be associated with indirect, direct and sometimes irreversible impacts and that these impacts must be stopped in their entirety (natural capital, human health, material goods, cultural heritage), particularly in the context of climate change;

RECALLING that these individual impacts add to the sum and combination of cumulative impacts, which very often exceed the simple addition of the individual impacts and that they are not homogenous with regard to the pressure of the activities and the interactions between these activities;

RECALLING that, although marine space is divided up into areas under national and international jurisdiction, it is also a space where all states have common interests;

FURTHER RECALLING that, whilst territories with maritime and coastal areas can legitimately develop in a sustainable manner the riches associated with these ecosystems, they have a responsibility for their protection;

FURTHER RECALLING that the states are committed to the integrated management of coastal zones and the planning of maritime areas through the establishment of adapted governance and strategies, in line with the recommendations of the Rio Summit and in view of attaining the Sustainable Development Goals, including the one on aquatic life, as well as the Aichi Targets;

CONSIDERING that the cumulative impacts of human activities on the sea may have consequences that go beyond the maritime and coastal territories;

RECOGNISING the work and conclusions of international bodies (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) – UNESCO) and regional bodies regarding the planning of maritime areas;

CONSIDERING the need to apply an ecosystem approach to the scale of marine regions, in order to establish the strategic, adapted and efficient strategies for the sustainable development of marine and coastal activities; and to appreciate the cumulative impacts of activities not subject to authorisation or declarations, as well as activities that are already being carried out without being subject to an environmental assessment; and

FURTHER CONSIDERING that the planning of marine areas is a tool that allows for the reinforcement of the necessary protection of marine and coastal ecosystems and in this also integrating the assessment on the cumulative impacts;