International approach to the marine pollution problem

Abstract

Attempts at international control of marine pollution commenced as early as 1926 in a proposal to limit oil pollution in the sea by a convention which failed to be ratified. The first successful Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil was adopted in 1954 and amended in 1962. An attempt will be made to expand the terms of this Convention at a Conference on Marine Pollution to be convened by the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization in October 1973. It is planned to include other noxious substances than oil carried by ships, as well as ship-generated garbage and sewage. The Convention on the Dumping of Wastes at Sea, adopted in London on November 13, 1972, will be responsible for the control of marine pollution arising from dumping wastes at sea, where certain substances are prohibited from being dumped and others can only be dumped under close supervision. The International Law of the Sea Conference to be convened in Santiago, Chile, during April 1974, will attempt to introduce international control over other forms of marine pollution by legislative action. There are various inter-governmental bodies dealing with the scientific aspects of marine pollution, including the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Meteorological Organization. These bodies, along with others, formed the IMCO/FAO/UNESCO/WMO/WHO/IAEA/UN Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution, which met for the first time in March 1969, and annually since then, to deal with scientific matters pertaining to marine pollution. The International Coordination Group on the Global Investigation of Pollution in the Marine Environment of the IOC met for the first time in April 1973 to coordinate a global approach to studying the marine pollution problem. Under the Integrated Global Ocean Station System, a pilot project, to monitor oil pollution in the North Atlantic and contiguous seas, has been initiated. There are a number of regional programs which might be incorporated into a global monitoring program, such as the North Sea and Baltic projects, coordinated under the International Council for Exploration of the Sea. National programs under the International Decade of Ocean Exploration will also be candidates for inclusion in global pollution studies. In addition, a number of non-governmental bodies such as the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research and Scientific Committee on Problems of Environment of the International Council of Scientific Unions are addressing themselves to scientific issues of marine pollution. The solution of global problems of marine pollution can only be achieved through international legislative action combined with strong backing by scientific research and monitoring. Many national programs will have to be coordinated by an international mechanism probably under the aegis of IOC. In the final analysis, the problem of global pollution can only be solved by cooperation of states with control of pollution nationally first and then internationally second.