Spain: Rainbow Warrior calls to clean up seas

Greenpeace calls for action to clean up the world?s sea beds from garbage. According to a recent report released by Greenpeace?s Rainbow Warrior during its recent stay in Barcelona, more than 6.4 million tonnes of rubbish end up in the sea each year about 70% of this ends up on the bottom of the sea.

The area most affected is said to be the North-Western Mediterranean, but the Caribbean, the Indonesian coast, the Irish and North seas are all among the most affected by deep sea garbage.

Between 60 and 80 percent of the rubbish that ends up at the bottom of the sea is plastic. The harm that such rubbish causes sea life is not to be underestimated as these delicate environments are already under threat from aggressive fishing methods, coastal development and global warming. Fish, seals and turtles often die following the consequences of ingesting plastic and their natural habitat is at risk of being contaminated by pollutants contained in the rubbish.

Greenpeace campaigns for global action. In 1998 an annex was included into the 73/78 Marpol agreement (an International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships designed to minimise pollution of the seas). Such a commitment should again be taken by governments, according to Greenpeace as well as localised action by part of coastal authorities.

Mario Rodriguez, a campaigns manager for Greenpeace, said that ?we are drowning the sea in plastic? but according to him investing into cleaning up the sea is only the beginning of the solution; to really solve the problem only a cultural change will work, as it is our cultural attitude towards consumerism and towards waste disposal that is at the root of the problem.