This theme provides information on instruments relating to pollution of the marine environment by ships and land-based sources, and on climate change and the ozone layer. Included are eight conventions and a global programme of action.
Environmental pollution has now become an important global issue, gaining rapid importance since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE, 1972). In the case of the marine environment, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is the lead organization responsible for formulating a number of international conventions towards the specific protection of the marine environment.
The dumping into oceans of wastes (oil, untreated sewage and heavy metals) by industrialized countries was one of the primary concerns for marine environment pollution in the 1970s, which led to the signing of the London Dumping Convention (LDC) in 1972. In 1993, a review of this Convention was undertaken, which later led to the adoption of the 1996 Protocol to the Convention, which asks States to "individually and collectively protect and preserve the marine environment from all sources of pollution and take effective measures, according to their scientific, technical and economic capabilities, to prevent, reduce and, where practicable, eliminate pollution caused by dumping or incineration at sea of wastes or other matter."
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78), is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes. It is a combination of two treaties adopted in 1973 and 1978, respectively, and updated by amendments through the years.
The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship's Ballast Water and Sediments (Globallast), 2004, is another important convention that aims to control invasive alien species that are spread by the transport and exchange of ballast water and sediments by ships. Alien species that are transported across natural barriers are capable of colonizing and exterminating local fauna and flora, and may endanger fisheries either by directly exterminating commercially important species or indirectly, by affecting their habitat and/or food/prey.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has been in the forefront of formulating multilateral environmental treaties. The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, 1985, aims to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects to the ozone layer. It provides a list of substances that can modify the chemical and physical properties of the ozone layer, of which chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), commonly used as refrigerants in fishing vessels, are important.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC,1992) is concerned with global warming and the consequent rise in sea levels that may result in the flooding of coastal areas, and submerging islands, which could adversely affect coastal communities, including fishing communities.
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Basel Convention, 1989), the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (Rotterdam Convention, 1998) and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) (Stockholm Convention, 2001) together provide an international framework for the environmentally sound management of hazardous chemicals throughout their life cycles. With illegal dumping of hazardous wastes into marine areas becoming a major problem, and the growing knowledge that many chemicals, including pesticides, that are widely used on land find their way into the oceans and contaminate fish, the global toxics treaties assume great significance.
Another problem is the pollution of coastal waters by land-based activities such as aquaculture, sewage disposal, and physical alteration and destruction of habitat. This was addressed by the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt a Global Programme of Action (PoA) for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities (Washington Conference, 1995), which came up with the Global PoA for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities (GPA-LBA), a non-binding instrument. The Regional Seas Programme of UNEP is the monitoring and implementing agency for this instrument.
Since many fisheries are located near the coast, and artisanal and small-scale fishers often fish close to the coastline, pollution of the coastal areas and destruction of coastal habitats are matters of grave concern for artisanal and small-scale fisheries. The GPA-LBA attempts to mitigate such threats to the marine environment from land-based activities by creating guidelines for the disposal of sewage, physical alteration of habitat, and so on.
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