Recognizing the appalling amount of waste, litter and garbage contaminating the world’s seas and oceans this very moment;
Outraged by the inaction and dismissal of the situation taken by many governments and state leaders across the globe;
Revolted by the thoughtlessness and selfishness of contributing individuals, and by the devastating impacts all of this waste has had on the environment and marine life in our waters;
The General Assembly hereby:
- Defines, for the purpose of this resolution:
- “Waste” as litter, garbage, or any other material polluting any body of water within the territorial waters or territory of a member state,
- “Waters” as any bodies of water within a state’s territorial boundaries such as lakes, seas, oceans and rivers,
- “Waste Quota” as a quota on the amount of waste in a state’s territorial waters, that being a maximum of 1.25 kilograms of waste per capita.
- “Waste” as litter, garbage, or any other material polluting any body of water within the territorial waters or territory of a member state,
- Mandates all member states to impose strict punishments on polluting their waters with waste in order to attempt to regulate the total amount of waste within their waters by either:
- Issuing fines to individuals found dumping waste into a state’s waters,
- Punishing these offenders by sentencing them to an appropriate amount of hours of community service cleaning out waste from that state’s waters,
- Issuing the offending individual(s) or corporation a warning which could result in a harsher punishment decided by the state if committed again,
- Any other punishment deemed appropriate or fitting by the state.
- Issuing fines to individuals found dumping waste into a state’s waters,
- Establishes the Environmental and Marine Life Protection Committee (“EMLPC”), divided into smaller national subcommittees,
- Tasks the EMLPC with carrying out yearly inspections of every state’s bodies of water to determine whether or not the waste quota has been crossed within the territorial waters of that nation,
- Encourages all member states to show initiative in setting up national organizations to try to clean out their waters of waste,
- Authorizes the EMLPC to:
- Penalize states non-compliant with the waste quota by issuing fines of an amount proportionate to how much the waste quota was broken by,
- Reduce such a penalty by a reasonable amount if the state is showing a sizable initiative to reduce the amount of waste in their waters,
- If any waste has been found to have flown into or been dumped into a state by another state, to penalize that state in lieu of the state that the waste was found in,
- Seize any waste found in the waters of a state, such as any recyclable material or material posing a threat to wildlife, with the exception of:
- Any waste of historical significance or value to the state,
- Any waste of cultural importance or value to the state,
- Any waste that could potentially act as evidence in a court case or other legal proceeding.
- Any waste of historical significance or value to the state,
- Penalize states non-compliant with the waste quota by issuing fines of an amount proportionate to how much the waste quota was broken by,
- Mandates the EMLPC to:
- Report findings of any of the above to the government or state leader immediately upon discovery for further examination,
- Ensure that the reported item is not discarded back into that state’s waters or environment upon the completion of the examination, but instead is either:
- Given back to the EMLPC,
- Put through a recycling process overseen by the EMLPC,
- Kept by the government of that state for any suitable further usage.
- Given back to the EMLPC,
- Report findings of any of the above to the government or state leader immediately upon discovery for further examination,
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So, what are your thoughts? Let me know if I should change anything, thanks!