Environmental Protection

Some interesting information and NEWS 

about Rivers, Seas & Ships around the world

Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the natural environment  on individual, organization controlled or governmental levels, for the benefit of both the environment and humans.

Here you can find some information about Environmental Protection from WWF (World Wildlife Found)

Rivers are the arteries of our planet

Flags of convenience fly in face of fisheries protection

Cruise liners’ pledge to keep sewage out of fragile Baltic Sea -WWF

South China Sea, Mediterranean and North Sea are shipping accidents hotspots

Water: our rivers, lakes & wetlands...

Marine problems: Shipping



EXERCISES: 

     1) Read the articles from WWF and write your comments

     2) Look at the picture "Pollution at sea" and discuss with a partner

Sources:

• http://wwf.panda.org/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_protection
• http://slideplayer.com/slide/8921338/

Marine Environment - IMO

In the overall context of sustainable development, shipping is a very powerful and positive force, making a major contribution to global trade and prosperity in a way that has only a relatively small negative impact on the global environment.

Shipping – which transports 90 per cent of global trade – is, statistically, the least environmentally damaging mode of transport, when its productive value is taken into consideration. The vast quantity of grain required to make the world’s daily bread, for example, could not be transported any other way than by ship. Moreover, set against land-based industry, shipping is a comparatively minor contributor, overall, to marine pollution from human activities.

IMO’s original mandate was principally concerned with maritime safety. However, as the custodian of the 1954 OILPOL Convention, the Organization, soon after it began functioning in 1959, assumed responsibility for pollution issues and subsequently has, over many years, adopted a wide range of measures to prevent and control pollution caused by ships and to mitigate the effects of any damage that may occur as a result of maritime operations and accidents.

These measures have been shown to be successful in reducing vessel-sourced pollution and illustrate the commitment of the Organization and the shipping industry towards protecting the environment. Of the 51 treaty instruments IMO has adopted so far, 21 are directly environment-related or 23, if the environmental aspects of the Salvage and Wreck Removal Conventions are included.

The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) is IMO's senior technical body on marine pollution related matters. It is aided in its work by a number of IMO's Sub-Committees.