Presentation
MERRAC's Activities to Facilitate Regional Cooperation on Marine Pollution Preparedness and Response in the NOWPAP Region
SessionMeet the Poster Authors
DescriptionThe Northwest Pacific region, which is surrounded by China, Japan, Korea, and Russia, has been severely affected by marine pollution due to its high shipping density and frequent marine spill incidents. From 1990 to 2021, there were a total of 345 reported marine pollution incidents in the region (for cases with spillage larger than 10 tons). Among them, 27 cases spilled more than 1,000 tons, including 13 cases that spilled more than 4,000 tons. Recognizing the serious threat posed by oil and chemical spills to the marine environment in this region, the regional countries have increased their national response capabilities and also established regional cooperative mechanisms to respond jointly to major spill accidents that affect or have the potential to affect other countries and exceed the response capability and available resources of a single country. The Marine Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Response Regional Activity Centre (MERRAC) of the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) was established in 2000 to facilitate relevant regional cooperative activities. The NOWPAP Regional Contingency Plan has been adopted as the operational framework for regional cooperation on major spill incidents, and MERRAC has been designated as the secretariat to the RCP. Under the cooperative framework of MERRAC, various regional cooperative activities have been carried out, such as organizing regular focal points and technical meetings, exchanging relevant information, conducting joint exercises, and implementing specific projects, etc. This presentation aims to introduce MERRAC's regional activities on marine pollution preparedness and response in the NOWPAP region.
Event Type
Poster
TimeMonday, May 13th5:00pm - 6:00pm CDT
LocationExhibit Hall G
Preparedness
Prevention
Remediation
Response
Restoration