Report of COMEST on "Water Ethics: Ocean, Freshwater, Coastal Areas".

Within the framework of its work programme for 2018-2019, the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST) decided to continue its work from 2016-2017 on “water ethics: ocean, freshwater, coastal areas”, with the participation of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and International Hydrological Programme (IHP). At the 9th (Ordinary) Session of COMEST in September 2015, the Commission established a Working Group to develop an initial reflection on this topic. The COMEST Working Group met in Kuwait in April 2016 to define the structure and content of its text. Based on this work, a preliminary draft report was prepared and discussed during the 9th Extraordinary Session of COMEST in September 2016. The COMEST Working Group then met in Senegal in May 2017, with the participation of IHP and IOC, to discuss the revised text, and to further develop the preliminary draft report after the meeting. The revised preliminary draft report was discussed during the 10th (Ordinary) Session of COMEST in September 2017. The COMEST Working Group met again in Oslo in May 2018 to prepare a final draft of the report. The final draft report was further discussed and revised during the 10th Extraordinary Session of COMEST, and was adopted by the Commission on 14 September 2018. This document does not pretend to be exhaustive and does not necessarily represent the views of the Member States of UNESCO or the Member States of the IOC and the IOC Secretariat.