Disposal of Plastics in the Sea – Policies - Polymers in a Marine Environment - page 134

in transition, and the further development of regional and sub-regional centres for
training and technology transfer.
The Strategic Plan for Implementation of the Basel Convention for the next decade
adopted at the 6 th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (2002), aimed to implement
the vision set forth in the Basel Declaration on Environmentally Sound Management,
and provides for the undertaking of speciic projects and programmes at the national
or regional level.
5.4.1.4 Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
Agenda 21 is the comprehensive plan for global, national and local action by
organisations of the United Nations (UN), governments, and major groups in every
area in which human activity impacts on the environment. It was adopted at the UN
Conference on Environment and Development , held in 1992. Chapter 17 of Agenda
21 deals with the protection of the oceans and all kinds of seas. Chapter 21 deals
with solid waste ('all domestic refuse and non-hazardous wastes such as commercial
and institutional wastes, street sweepings and construction debris).
Issues related to the protection of the marine environment are included in the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation adopted by the World Summit on Sustainable
Development , held in 2002. Paragraph 22 deals with prevention and minimisation
of waste and maximisation of reuse, recycling and use of environmentally friendly
alternative materials, in order to minimise adverse effects on the environment and
improve resource eficiency. Paragraph 32 deals with land-based sources emphasising
the importance of implementation of the UNEP Global Programme of Action (GPA)
for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities . Paragraph
33 deals with marine pollution from shipping, stating that relevant international
conventions should be ratiied and implemented.
5.4.1.5 Convention on Biological Diversity, with the Jakarta Mandate
The Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity is part of the UN Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD). The Jakarta Mandate is a global consensus on the
importance of marine and coastal biological diversity and part of the work to
implement the CBD. The work programme is focused on ive key elements: Marine
and coastal biodiversity resource management, sustainable use of marine and coastal
biodiversity, marine and coastal protected areas, mariculture, and alien/invasive
species. The issue of marine litter is relevant for the thematic areas of marine and
coastal biodiversity (smothering of the seabed and the effects of entanglement and