On 17-18 May 2022 UNEP/MAP organized the Regional Meeting on “Marine Litter Best Practices” in Seville, Spain. Participants from 16 Mediterranean countries examined best practices in the implementation of the new measures included in the updated Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean (RPML)—a legally-binding instrument the original version of which was adopted by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention in 2013. The technical deliberations addressed the various facets of marine litter, including the variants emanating from wastewater treatment plants, aquaculture and shipping or carried by watercourses.
The Mediterranean is considered as one of the most affected regional seas by marine litter. The annual plastic leakage is estimated at 229,000 tonnes, 94 per cent of which consist of macroplastics. Plastics constitute around 95 per cent of waste in the open sea, both on the seabed and on beaches across the Mediterranean.
The UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system has been addressing the scourge of marine litter since the early 1990s, with the introduction in 1996 of the Amendments to the Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution from Land-Based Sources (LBS Protocol), and the adoption in 2012 of the Strategic Framework for Marine Litter Management prepared within the framework of the UNEP Regional Seas Programme.
In December 2021 a landmark 22nd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (COP 22), held in Antalya, Türkiye, adopted amendments to the Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean (RPML) that streamline and apply circular economy principles with a focus on plastic and microplastic pollution.
The RPML constitutes one of the most advanced instruments for cooperation on tackling marine litter in a regional sea context. Lessons learned from its implementation are expected to inform global deliberations on the global treaty on plastic pollution. The UNEP/MAP Programme of Work 2022-2023 and the Bilateral Cooperation Agreement between UNEP/MAP and the Italian Ministry for Ecological Transition (Mite) include support for the acceleration of the RPML implementation in the Mediterranean.
Participants in the “Marine Litter Best Practices” meeting also reviewed best practices in the adoption of circular economy approaches as the chief pathway to stem the tide of marine litter. This item on the meeting’s agenda served as a segue to the International Forum on Marine Litter and Circular Economy (MARLICE 2022), a major annual gathering of scientists, experts and practitioners, which took place in Seville on 16-20 May with the support of UNEP/MAP and three of its components—namely MED POL, SCP/RAC (MedWaves) and Plan Bleu. Participants who attended both meetings gained insights into governance aspects and heard case studies from other regions.
At MARLICE 2022 Coordinator Tatjana Hema highlighted the contributions of UNEP/MAP alongside the representatives of other Regional Sea Conventions (HELCOM, OSPAR and the Black Sea Commission), recalling that the Mediterranean Action Plan – the first to see the light of day under the UNEP Regional Seas Programme – “continues to be a trailblazer, especially on marine litter and the integration of the principles of the circular economy as part of an integrated approach to sustainability”.
The achievements of UNEP/MAP and the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans were presented as pioneering experiences that can pave the way for the development of the legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution, thus ensuring that progress and lessons learned at the regional level can feed into the global process aiming to address the world’s plastic pollution problem.
MARLICE 2022 also saw several Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and MAP Partners renew their efforts to the effective implementation of the RPML in the Mediterranean, highlighting the need for support on several fronts: from capacity building and tackling the leakage of microplastics from wastewater treatment plants to prevention and reduction measures (for instance through extended producer responsibility), marine litter removal actions and the strengthening of integrated institutional setups, as well as a surge in awareness and education.
The Seville meetings fostered the resolve of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention to tackle marine litter and plastic pollution with the support of UNEP/MAP. “The determination that we saw in Seville bodes well for an active Mediterranean participation in the negotiations on the global treaty on plastic pollution and in the forthcoming UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon,” Tatjana Hema observed.
