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In October 2021, 15 ministers of the OSPAR Commission met in Portugal. The OSPAR Commission was established by the 1992 Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, which unified and continued the objectives of the Oslo (1972) and Paris (1974) Conventions. A progress report was published in 2023 on the current status of the measures.
One goal of the meeting was the designation of another offshore marine protected area for seabirds in the northeast Atlantic. With around 60,000 km², this area includes the High Seas North Atlantic Current and the Evlanov Sea Basin. The area was selected as a marine protected area based on tracking data, as it is considered an important feeding area for both seabirds with breeding grounds on the northeast Atlantic coasts and migratory birds on their migrations to nesting sites in other parts of the world.
During the conference, the OSPAR Environmental Strategy 2030 was also defined as a continuation of the previous Northeast Atlantic Environmental Strategy (NEAES 2010 – 2020). This is based on the four themes: clean oceans, biologically diverse seas, productive and sustainably used seas and seas that are resilient to climate change and acidification. To this end, the current area is to be expanded from 10% to 30% of the OSPAR marine areas by 2030 by designating further marine protected areas.
Another goal of the strategy is to counter environmental pollution, including that caused by plastic waste. To this end, marine litter is to be reduced by 50% by 2025 and by 75% by 2030.
To reduce the loss of plastic pellets into the marine environment, standards and certification schemes for plastic supply chains will be established, as well as a set of guidelines for the industry.
As early as the planning phase, the Mup-Group takes into account the economic implementation of the planned measures with maximum protection of the environment and resources.
