The Benguela Current Commission, or BCC, is a multi-sectoral inter-governmental, initiative of Angola, Namibia and South Africa. It promotes the sustainable management and protection of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem, or BCLME. The BCC was established in January 2007 through the signing of an Interim Agreement between the governments of Angola, Namibia and South Africa. Then, on 18 March 2013, the three governments signed the Benguela Current Convention, an environmental treaty that entrenches the Benguela Current Commission as a permanent inter-governmental organization. The BCC is based on the large marine ecosystem (LME) approach to ocean governance. It is focused on the management of shared fish stocks; environmental monitoring; biodiversity and ecosystem health; the mitigation of pollution; and minimizing the impacts of marine mining and oil and gas production. Sound environmental governance and training and capacity building are at the forefront of its agenda. The BCC provides a vehicle for Angola, Namibia and South Africa to introduce an ecosystem approach to ocean governance. This means that, instead of managing living and non-living resources at the national level, the three countries work together through the BCC, to address the problems that affect the BCLME. History Although Angola, Namibia and South Africa each have policies, legislation and structures for managing their individual Exclusive Economic Zones, since the mid-1990s the three countries have promoted a coordinated approach towards the management of the BCLME. Following a historic first meeting between marine scientists from the three countries, which took place in Swakopmund, Namibia, in June 1995, the BCLME Programme was conceived. With the backing of the three countries, and financial and logistical support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the BCLME Programme was implemented between 2002 and 2008. Its objective was to improve knowledge and understanding of the BCLME and enhance the ability of the three countries to jointly address environmental problems that occur across national borders so that the BCLME may be managed in a coordinated and integrated way. The BCLME Programme was implemented in tandem with BENEFIT, a regional marine science and training programme focused on fisheries and marine resources. The knowledge generated by the BCLME Programme resulted in an acknowledgement by the governments of Angola, Namibia and South Africa that effective long-term cooperation between them in implementing an ecosystem approach in the BCLME required the establishment of stable institutional arrangements. As a result, the three