Mediterranean Action Plan Research Articles

Towards Management of Environmental Problems in Egypt

As a poor, developing country, Egypt faces a wide variety of pollution and other environmental problems associated with poverty. In this essay are reviewed the most severe environmental problems currently facing Egypt, as well as the range of policies which the government has assayed in order to manage them. Some of the widespread environmental problems are growing acute. Water pollution is seen as serious, and many new factories are being built without sufficient pollution control. There are real threats to agricultural productivity and public health. While many new institutional and legal steps have been undertaken in the last 7 years, most have failed to curb effectively mounting environmental stresses in the country. A rare counter-example is Mediterranean water quality, which is being helped by activation of UNEP's Mediterranean Action Plan.

Controlling pollution from land‐based sources in the Turkish Mediterranean coast—legislative aspects

Abstract The Turkish Mediterranean Coast is still the cleanest section in the region. This aspect needs to be strictly controlled and improved to allow for a sound development of touristic activities. Also, the adopted controlling policy should comply with the basic principles of the Mediterranean Action Plan. In Turkey, the regulations issued in connection with the “Water Products Law”; are now implemented to control wastewater discharges. Recently, major efforts were devoted to improve these regulations within the umbrella of the new “Environmental Law”;. The new proposals consider the issue from a much broader framework and provide technical support and criteria for marine outfalls, direct discharges of domestic and industrial sources and pretreatment requirement prior to discharge to the sewerage systems.

Do regimes matter? Epistemic communities and Mediterranean pollution control

International regimes have received increasing attention in the literature on international relations. However, little attention has been systematically paid to how compliance with them has been achieved. An analysis of the Mediterranean Action Plan, a coordinated effort to protect the Mediterranean Sea from pollution, shows that this regime actually served to empower a group of experts (members of an epistemic community), who were then able to redirect their governments toward the pursuit of new objectives. Acting in an effective transnational coalition, these new actors contributed to the development of convergent state policies in compliance with the regime and were also effective in promoting stronger and broader rules for pollution control. This suggests that in addition to providing a form of order in an anarchic international political system, regimes may also contribute to governmental learning and influence patterns of behavior by empowering new groups who are able to direct their governments toward new ends.

The Mediterranean Action Plan: A Regional Approach to Pollution Control

Increasing concern over the deterioration of the Mediterranean sea as a result of increasing pollution by untreated sewage and industrial wastes, agricultural pesticides and fertilizers and oil discharges, led to a series of meetings between 1970 and 1974, and finally to the UNEP-sponsored Mediterranean Action Plan, adopted by governments of the region in 1975 and ongoing since that time. The legal component of the Plan includes a framework Convention and four protocols; the environmental assessment component (the MED POL programme) consists of national pollution monitoring programmes, and research projects conducted by Mediterranean institutions; the environmental management component consists of the Blue Plan (a prospective study combining socio-economic development with environmental preservation) and the Priority Actions Programme (a series of sub-region sectoral projects in defined areas). The Plan has been financed by Mediterranean States since 1979, and is managed by UNEP with the cooperation of other competent UN Agencies. During the last ten years, activities undertaken have improved knowledge of the state of pollution of the Mediterranean sea, and facilitated joint regional action in the form of preventive and control measures.

Mediterranean pollution: Health related aspects

Starting from the premise that the main Mediterranean pollution problems are all directly or indirectly health-related, this article surveys the health components of the Mediterranean Action Plan. The Action Plan's pilot projects are described and problems of coordinating national scientific methodologies are pointed out. The protocol on landbased pollution and the problem of mercury in seafood are analysed. The article concludes that, while there is no room for complacency, the extent of Mediterranean pollution has been exaggerated by some commentators.

Waste Discharge into the Marine Environment. Principles and Guidelines for the Mediterranean Action Plan. Prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Sanitary Engineering, Polytechnic of Milan, Italy. Published under the joint sponsorship of the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Environment Programme.—With 106 figs., 47 tab., 422 pp. Oxford — New York: Pergamon Press 1982. ISBN 0‐08‐026194‐9. £ 40.00,

Waste Discharge into the Marine Environment. Principles and Guidelines for the Mediterranean Action Plan. Prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Sanitary Engineering, Polytechnic of Milan, Italy. Published under the joint sponsorship of the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Environment Programme.—With 106 figs., 47 tab., 422 pp. Oxford — New York: Pergamon Press 1982. ISBN 0‐08‐026194‐9. £ 40.00,

Recommendations for the Future Development of the Mediterranean Action Plan 1

Recommendations for the Future Development of the Mediterranean Action Plan 1

Mediterranean Action Plan: An Interim Evaluation

The Mediterranean Action Plan is an extensive program of regional environmental cooperation on technical and institutional approaches to pollution monitoring, environmental assessment, and policy-making. The simultaneous development of a regional monitoring network and legal instruments to protect the Mediterranean from pollution is an important achievement, which provides a firm basis for continuing cooperative efforts.

Review of the Mediterranean action plan

At a meeting in Barcelona in February 1975 the Mediterranean coastal States adopted a plan of action for the protection and development of the Mediterranean Sea and coast upon which they all depend. The United Nations Environment Programme was called upon to take a lead role in assisting the Mediterranean governments in implementing this plan. The following article reviews the content of the action plan that the governments adopted and the progress which has been made to date.