Introduction
One of the major concerns that comes associated with the over exploitation of natural resources and the uncontrolled developmental activities is that of Pollution. Pollution in today’s era has become one of the biggest problems that has its damaging effects on all the planet’s ecosystem, including the oceans. Across many parts of the world, Coastal zones have been the hot spot of economic development which has been putting tremendous pressure on the ecosystem of the coastal areas.
Worldwide, there has been a rise in the contamination of coastal and marine waters, mostly from untreated home and industrial effluents, heavy metals from mine tailings and other sources, increased surface runoff and drainage from growing port areas, direct releases from rivers, and other sources. What is even more terrifying is that most of the toxic waste pollutants generated across the world often end up in the seas even without any kind of preliminary processing or treatment which depletes the marine environment to a great extent.
“The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas” (UNCLOS) defines pollution of the Marine Environment as the “Introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the marine environment (including estuaries) resulting in such deleterious effects as harm to living resources, hazards to human health, hindrance to marine activities including fishing, impairment of quality for use of sea water and reduction of amenities”.
Intrinsic Factors and their Detrimental After-effects
One of the most common form of wastes that is directly discharged into the oceans via the seas and rivers is the agricultural and industrial wastes resulting in ocean pollution. The natural composition and quality of the sea water is highly altered by the untreated industrial wastes containing toxic chemical and biological agents which leads to marine pollution. Another risk causing factor of marine pollution includes the disposal of radioactive wastes in the oceans.
Now-a-days many nations across the globe have been conducting their nuclear tests on oceans which leads to the over-accumulation of radioactive substances in the sea water, thereby threatening the marine ecosystem. Further, another major source of marine pollution includes the oil spillage in the sea. Oil refineries near the coastal areas, accidental oil spillage and oil leakages from corroded pipelines which pass through the sea often lead to oil pollution in sea water.
Crude oil when spilled generally lasts for years in the sea and often endangers the marine life by the toxic contamination. Yet, another source of marine pollution is the deep-sea mining for the purpose of extracting valuable mineral deposits from the sea bed. It has been found that the ocean mining increases the toxicity in the marine environment and causes serious damages to the lowest levels of oceans. Last but not the least, pollution from the environment is also one of the main sources of marine pollution. Pollution from environment occurs when distant inland objects are blown over long distances by the winds and ultimately end up in the oceans. These objects could be anything including plastic trash and debris. These plastic debris cannot decompose and continue to remain suspended in the oceans for decades.
There are several detrimental after-effects of the pollution which entraps the marine environment. The spillage of oil in the oceans is highly dangerous and adversely affects the chances of survival of the marine life existing under the oceans. The oil spill disrupts the cycle of coral reefs by floating on the water’s surface and preventing sunlight from reaching the marine plants.
This makes photosynthesis more difficult. Moreover, the majority of the garbage submerged in water does not break down and stays there for years, slowly consuming oxygen as it deteriorates. The food chain is disrupted as a result of the oxygen levels being reduced and the survival chances of marine species such as whales, turtles, sharks, dolphins, etc. being badly impacted.
Further, the agricultural runoff and sewage outfalls result in excessive nutrients which further depletes the oxygen levels and create the hypoxic areas i.e., the low oxygen areas known as dead zones, where most of the marine life do not survive and this results in the collapse of the marine ecosystem. Moreover, the agricultural and industrial effluents that get into the oceans contain toxic chemicals and pesticides which get accumulated into the fatty tissues of the marine animals leading to failure of their reproductive organs.
International Endeavors to Mitigate Oceanic Degradation
It is undeniable that the international environment law and the modern law of the sea have given rise to a proliferation of legal instruments that will aid the nations in utilizing their water resources in an accountable way. Many significant measures have been taken by the international communities to protect, preserve and conserve the marine environment.
Many international conventions and treaties have been formed in this regard wherein one of the important conventions is the “United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea” (UNCLOS). This convention came in force in the year 1994 and it lays down a comprehensive regime of rules governing the judicious use of world’s oceans and their resources by the nations. Part XII of UNCLOS is titled as the “Protection and Preservation of the Marine Environment” and includes both general and specific obligations of member nations to prevent, reduce, and control the pollution of marine environment.
Thereafter another important convention is the “Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972”, commonly referred as the “London Convention” or “LC ’72”. It aims to promote regional agreements that are supplemental to the convention and was put into action in 1975. Its purpose is to ensure the effective control of pollution of the sea caused by dumping. This convention aims to take all practicable steps to prevent marine pollution by dumping of wastes and other matter at the sea.
Another important convention is the “International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships” (MARPOL). MARPOL refers to Marine Pollution. This convention was developed by the International Maritime Organization and came into force in the year 1983. This convention aims to prevent the pollution of sea from noxious liquid substances, oil spills, sewage, garbage etc. The objective of this convention is to practically minimize the pollution of the marine environment including oil and exhaust pollution. India is also a party to MARPOL. India has established the obligation to inform contravention of provision of MARPOL in the Sec 356 (H) of Merchant Shipping Act 1948.
Further, a unique intergovernmental mechanism was created to counter the issue of land-based pollution, popularly known as the “Global Program of Action” (GPA) for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities. The Global Program of Action is the only intergovernmental machinery which directly addresses the connectivity between the terrestrial, coastal, freshwater, and marine ecosystem.
Several countries, along with the European Commission, endorsed the GPA during an intergovernmental meeting held in Washington, D.C., in 1995. The state parties shared their common objective of taking effective action to tackle the land-based impacts upon the marine ecosystem, which specifically resulted from sewage, radioactive substances, organic pollutants, heavy metals leading to destruction and physical alteration of marine habitat.
Moreover, “Greenpace International,” an environmental organization with its headquarters in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is committed to protecting the world’s seas and marine life. Through grassroots initiatives, firms’ fishing policies were altered, harmful fishing techniques were outlawed, and whale sanctuaries were established. The organization has been arguing big corporations to take measures to reduce their plastic footprint in order to end the flow of plastics into the world oceans.
Further, the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 or the 2030 Agenda is a collection of 17 global goals formulated by the United Nations Development Programme, which covers various aspects of socio-economic developments such as poverty, global warming, health, sanitation, environment, etc. Goal 14 of this agenda highlights the significant importance of Life below Water, it quotes “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”
The Way Forward
Our Marine resources are the precious heritage that must be preserved and utilized sustainably for the betterment of marine ecosystem. A clean and healthy marine environment is an integral part of human right to live in a healthy and fulfilling environment. The sustainable development practices are of extreme importance for the conservation of marine bio diversity.
The exploitation of marine resources for human and developmental needs must be done in a judicious manner so that it does not leads to the demolition of life below water. Although, there are plethora of existing laws and regulations across the globe for the protection of natural resources and bio diversity, however their strict and effective implementation is still a challenge for the nations.
Proper awareness among people must be raised especially among those residing nearby coastal areas about the detrimental impacts of over exploitation of marine resources and how it adversely affects the human life. Various organizations working in the area of marine protection and the Coastal zone protection units must be provided with financial support and necessary technologies to combat the challenges.
Social impact assessment must be done before initiating any developmental activity nearby coastal zones and strict implementation of the polluter pay principle must be carried on. The involvement of local communities by generating awareness and scientific research in this domain is also of paramount importance in the marine conservation strategy. Furthermore, the future of marine biodiversity worldwide will depend on countries’ willingness and capacity to work together toward these shared goals as well as their ability to enact and uphold their own marine conservation legislation.
Author: Srishti is an LLM student at Chanakya National University.
