UNEP and partners launched the Hilltops-2-Oceans (H2O) Partnership Initiative in September 2002 as a Type II Partnership of the WSSD with the aim of highlighting the links between the freshwater, coastal and marine environments, and promoting concrete actions to address river, coastal and marine pollution. Convened by UNEP and Environment Australia, the Global H2O Partnership Conference seeks, inter alia, to: renew the commitment of stakeholders of the need for sustained and adequately resourced National Programmes of Action to protect the marine environment from the harmful effects of land-based activities; explore innovative financial arrangements for financing capital-intensive initiatives; further strengthen the links between water supply and sanitation; and review, debate and recommend the appropriate use of Wastewater Emission Targets (WET) as a tool for protecting the marine environment from the harmful effects of activities from the hilltops to the oceans. The Conference will also serve as an interim assessment of the GPA, in preparation for the Second Intergovernmental Review of the GPA in 2006.  

dates: 11-14 May 2004  
location: Cairns, Australia  
contact: Conference Secretariat  
phone: 31-70-311-4467  
fax: 31-70-345-664831  
e-mail: h2o@unep.nl  
www: http://www.hilltops2oceans.org