The Council of Ministers approved a request by the Ministry of Environment to join the Protocol for Sustainable Management of Mediterranean Coastlines.

The ministry said in a statement: “The Protocol strengthens the application of the Environment Code, which underlines the need to protect the coast and maritime environment from pollution.” Ground and surface water along the coastline are being heavily polluted, according to the statement.

The Protocol is the fruit of amendments attached to the Barcelona Convention to Protect the Mediterranean, signed in 1995 and approved by Lebanon in 2008.