What is OSPAR?

Greenpeace media briefing

Publication date: May 2000

Summary
The OSPAR Convention is an international treaty charged with preventing and eliminating pollution of the marine environment in the North East Atlantic. The Convention covers the Irish Sea, into which BNFL daily discharges 8 million litres of radioactive waste. It also covers the seas most directly affected by Sellafield's spreading contamination.

The member states of the OSPAR Commission are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the European Union, represented by the European Commission.