Mediterranean Sea


International actors and agreements in the region

See Global action and Global actors.

UNEP Regional Seas Programme. ••>

UNEP Global programme of action for the protection of the marine environment from land-based activities (UNEP GPA). ••>

UN Economic Commission for Europe. ••>

UNEP Regional Office for Europe. ••>

Regional conventions, agreements, action plans and actors

Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention) with protocols concerning oil, dumping, offshore, hazardous waste, and emergencies. ••>

Mediterranean Action Plan.••>

Short and Medium-term Priority Environmental Action Programme. ••>

Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea. ••>

The Mediterranean Sea has been designated as a Special Area for the purpose of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78

Mediterranean MoU on Port State Control. ••>

EU-funded project ENVISYS: Oil monitoring in the Mediterranean (by means of remote sensing and telematics). See also oil monitoring through ERS/RAC. ••>

"Amoco Milford Haven - the biggest wreck in the Med". Divernet.

Regional reports on the state of the marine and coastal environment

State and pressures of the marine and coastal Mediterranean environment. Report 2000 by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and its former European Topic Centre on the Marine and Coastal Environment, in co-operation with the Mediterranean Action Plan. Summary.

Marine and Coastal Environment. Annual topic update 2000. Report published in 2000 by the former EEA Topic Center.

On the Monitoring of Illicit Vessel Discharges – A Reconnaissance Study in the Mediterranean Sea. Published in 2001 by the EU DG Joint Research Centre ISPRA. See also Oil spill statistics, Mediterranean (conference presentation; PDF:16 MB or PowerPoint Presentation : 350 kb).

UNEP: Global Environment Outlook 3 (GEO3). Coastal and marine areas..

University of Rhode Island: Large Marine Ecosystems (LME): The region includes the Mediterranean Large Marine Ecosystem.

Private sector and NGOs actors and initiatives

MarineCare. A project initiated by Turkish Maritime Pilots' Association, "aiming at increasing international sensitivitiy in internet environment to keep our seas clean". 

CONCAWE. The oil companies' European organisation for environment, health and safety.

European Community Shipowners Association, ECSA. See Annual Report on Safety and Environment.

Europia. The European government affairs organisation of the oil refining and marketing industry in the EU and EEA.

Mediterranean Oil Industry Group (MOIG). A regional oil industry forum on oil spill preparedness and response. Represents a network of industry experts in oil spill response to ensure good coordination by the oil industry in case of a major oil spill incident in the Mediterranean. Provides a regional industry interface to REMPEC.

Oilwatch. ••>

International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF). ••>

International Directory of Oil Spill Cleanup Contractors and Response Organisations. ••>

International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA). ••>

Efforts to contain some of the 140,000 tonnes of oil spill from tanker Amoco Milford Haven, which exploded and caught fire off Genoa, Italy, in 1991.

Photos: © Photo journalist Dino Fracchia. See also other photos of the Haven accident.