A NEW DRIVE TO TACKLE MARINE LITTER FROM SHIPS

COP21 adopted new guidelines on the Provision of Reception Facilities in Ports and the Delivery of Ship-Generated Wastes and the Application of Charges at Reasonable Costs for the Use of Port Reception Facilities. These guidelines,developed by REMPEC, aim at tackling the sea-based marine litter with a focus on port reception facilities in ports and marinas.

These tools build on the experience REMPEC has gained by coordinating and carrying out a series of activities under the Marine Litter-MED project (2016-2019) and the Cooperation Agreement between the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea (IMELS) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) including the preparation of targeted studies. The application of these guidelines in ports and marina could contribute to lowering the likelihood of waste being ingested by marine life, as well as the risk of being eventually consumed by human beings through the food chain.

With the purpose of improving the management of marine litter from sea-based sources in the ports and marinas, a total of 14 pilots were implemented in the relevant beneficiary countries in southern Mediterranean and the Adriatic Sea region.

Lessons learnt from these pilots were discussed in a sub-regional meeting organised by REMPEC in January 2020 leading to the adoption of a set of recommendations and conclusions, including future steps to strengthen the sub-regional cooperation by exploring ways to harmonise specific measures that would address the issue of marine litter in a more effective and coordinated approach and improve the capacity of relevant countries to better manage ship generated waste at the national and sub-regional level.

 

To pursue these efforts in the region, REMPEC is currently planning a national activity in Lebanon and under the leadership of UNEP/MAP, national pilots and meetings will be carried out in ports and marinas of other Contracting Parties that have expressed interests or needs. In this context, UNEP/MAP, IMO and REMPEC will continue exploring and establishing synergies between the Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean and the IMO Action Plan to address marine plastic litter from ships.