C. Ocean Dumping

Abstract

The forty-third consultative meeting of the contracting parties to the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention), as amended, and the sixteenth meeting of the contracting parties to the 1996 Protocol to the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Protocol) took place on 25–9 October. As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, participants met online, subject to adjusted rules of procedure. Unlike 2020, when the governing bodies of the two treaties had agreed to defer most substantive business, this year’s meetings managed to return to something approaching business as usual, albeit remotely. In particular, the meetings were an important opportunity for reviewing implementation of the treaties, given the upcoming dates for achieving certain targets contained in the Strategic Plan (see section 2 below). Given that the twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties (COP-26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was due to take place in Glasgow shortly after the meetings, the parties to the dumping treaties also addressed the role of the treaties in addressing climate change, particularly through carbon dioxide sequestration and geoengineering activities (see section 3 below).