International Maritime Organization: The London Convention: 20 Years of Progress*

Abstract

BACKGROUND The London Convention (LC) is 20 years old this year [1992]. It was adopted on 13 November 1972 at a conference organized by the British government under the offi- cial title of the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter. The LC was one of a number of international treaties adopted in the early 1970s, when concern for the world's environment and a knowledge of widespread contamina- tion was rapidly growing. An important catalyst was the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972; the London conference