Russia blocks creation of marine protected areas

摘要

Russia blocked, on 16 July, the adoption of two proposals to create marine protected areas meant to bolster protection of the Antarctic Ocean. Meeting on 15-16 July in Bremerhaven, Germany, the parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR - 24 countries plus EU) suffered another setback, eight months after an initial failure at the CCAMLR annual meeting in Australia. Discussions will continue in the run-up to the next annual meeting, in October 2013.