In 1975 the Mediterranean became the first marine basin to be involved in an Action Plan within the framework of the Regional Seas Programme of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the year after was the first to enter under the umbrella of a Convention, the so-colled Barcelona Convention, deisgned to deal with pollution. In 1995, the Mediterranean was again the first regional sea in the world to be provided with a new Convention and a new Phase of the existing Action Plan, both aimed at pursuing sustainable importance. This book includes the papers discussed in a workshop, convened in Genoa in 1995.
