The OSPAR Commission for the protection of the marine environment of the Northeast Atlantic today announced the outcomes of its annual meeting held virtually on Dec. 8-9.
Discussion items included the development of OSPAR’s Northeast Atlantic Environment Strategy 2030, which will include targets to achieve a sustainably used and clean, healthy, and biologically diverse ocean and be adopted at a ministerial meeting scheduled to be held in June 2021 in Portugal.
OSPAR noted progress on the designation of a new 600,000km2 marine protected area for migrating seabirds in international waters in OSPAR’s maritime area, with the Commission agreeing to publish the nomination for the proposed North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Seamount Marine Protected Area. OSPAR said that the proposed MPA would be equivalent to the size of France.
Established in 1972, OSPAR is a mechanism for cooperation between 15 governments and the EU to protect the marine environment of the Northeast Atlantic by addressing dumping, land-based sources of marine pollution, the offshore industry, and non-polluting human activities that can affect the sea. The 15 governments are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
