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Basic principles for development and implementation of plastic clean-up technologies: What can we learn from fisheries management?
No full textPlastic pollution compromises ocean health, with large amounts of plastics continuing to enter marine and coastal environments. Various mitigative engineering solutions are being developed and implemented in response to this threat. While recognising the positive impacts of clean-ups, we highlight two perspectives given little attention to date, which are vital to evaluating the cost-benefit ratio of clean-ups: firstly, clean-up efficiency where density and accessibility of litter are key, and secondly, potential negative externalities that implementation of clean-up technologies may have. These principles, catch per unit effort and the impact on non-target species, are well known from fisheries management.We argue they should also be applied in evaluating marine litter removal schemes
Enhancing oil spill response capacities in the South Baltic Sea region via cross-border utilization of biodegradable oil binders
Get PDFOccurrences of oil spills are responsible for very significant environmental degradation; they are more likely to happen in areas with dense shipping traffic, or in the close vicinity of transport pipelines and/or other infrastructures used for production and processing purposes. Without international co-operation, individual countries often lack sufficient resources and assets to successfully respond to largescale oil spill incidents. This can be related to the vast quantities of oil involved in those incidents, or the lack of necessary special equipment for dealing with the tasks at hand by the country under the need to respond. For the successful resolution of oil spill incidents, close and effective international co-operation- especially between neighbouring countries that usually “share the burden” of oil pollution- is a vital necessity. On this basis, the South Baltic Oil (SBOIL) project aims to strengthen the existing oil spill response capacities in the South Baltic region, introducing a cross-border spill response tool based on the new ‘green technology’ of biodegradable oil binders (BioBinders). In order for this new concept to be implemented, it is necessary to examine the international and national regulations and guidelines with reference to sorbent use and the exchange of oil spill equipment in the area of interest, and also analyze the national oil spill contingency plans of the different countries involved in the project. After investigating the legal requirements for the utilization of BioBinders in the South Baltic region, the analysis at hand presents the outcomes of a Table Top Exercise that was based on a realistic oil spill scenario in the wider region. This exercise tested the compatibility of international/national/regional plans regarding the use of BioBinders and examined the topics of recovery and waste management, including alternative techniques available for oil spill response. The results suggest that the use of BioBinders is promising, and represents a response option to improve the existing oil spill response capacities in the South Baltic region; the main challenge lies with the difficulty in dealing with waste management, mainly because of the current legislation in place within the participating countries
Workshop and side events report : biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction: Towards the development of a balanced, effective and universal international agreement
Get PDFhttps://commons.wmu.se/lib_reports/1078/thumbnail.jp
The concept of strategy to support the improved sustainable performance of IMO member state obligations: the case of Nigeria
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