Nations Will Set Up Rules To Protect Oceans

More than 100 nations agreed Friday to establish guidelines for increased protection of the world’s oceans from land-based pollution, although no new legally binding commitments were established.

Delegates from 102 countries, at a United Nations conference on protecting the marine environment, also agreed to try to develop in the coming years a binding treaty addressing the flow of persistently toxic organic pollutants into oceans.

The delegates acknowledged that such pollutants are a major threat to marine life.