The MARPOL Convention is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes. It is a combination of two treaties adopted in 1973 and 1978 respectively and updated by amendments through the years.

The objective of this Convention is to promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among Parties in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals in order to protect human health and the environment from potential harm and to contribute to their environmentally sound use, by facilitating information exchange about their characteristics, by providing for a national decision-making process on their import and export and by disseminating these decisions to Parties.

An agreement with the United Kingdom re Turks and Caicos Islands' stewardship of the environment

The following are International Conventions which the United Kingdom has signed on behalf of its Overseas Territories ( including the Turks and Caicos Islands) but the convention has yet to be ratified until National Laws are enacted within the Territory.

http://www.imo.org/Conventions/mainframe.asp?topic_id=256&doc_id=665

The Convention is seeking to address in particular the problems identified in chapter 17, programme area C, of Agenda 21 adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, namely, that the management of high seas fisheries is inadequate in many areas and that some resources are overutilized; noting that there are problems of unregulated fishing, over-capitalization, excessive fleet size, vessel reflagging to escape controls, insufficiently selective gear,unreliable databases and lack of sufficient cooperation between States.

The CBD is designed to conserve biological diversity, ensure the sustainable use of this diversity and share the benefits generated by the use of genetic resources, in particular through appropriate access to genetic resources and appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and technologies, and through adequate funding.

Compensation for damage caused by the carriage by sea of hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) is regulated by the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 1996 (the .HNS Convention.), which was adopted under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, adopted in 1971, entered into force in 1975 and as of August 2006 has 152 Parties. The convention provides a framework for international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands. Parties are to designate suitable wetlands for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance, to formulate and implement their planning so as to promote the conservation of wetlands included in the List and the wise use of all wetlands in their territory. This also means that the Convention is concerned not just with isolated sites, but the anagement of the entire catchment of river-basins.

The Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean Region is a comprehensive, umbrella agreement for the protection and development of the marine environment. This regional environmental convention provides the legal framework for cooperative regional and national actions in the Wider Caribbean Region.

Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone, Archipelagic State, Exclusive Economic Zone.

The objective of the Bonn Convention (Convention on Migratory Species) is the conservation of migratory species worldwide. Wild animals require special attention because of their importance from the environmental, ecological, genetic, scientific, recreational, cultural, educational, social and economic points of view.

The Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species seek to conserve endangered species of wild fauna and flora, by regulating or controling trade in such species by imposing conditions on the importation, exportation or re-exportation thereof and on their movement , in accordance with the CITES Convention. http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/text.shtml

The Convention aims, in introducing a system for controlling the export, import and disposal of hazardous wastes and their disposal, to reduce the volume of such exchanges so as to protect human health and the environment.

An independent state will determine for itself whether or not to ratify an international convention. For a territory, which by definition is a geographical domain under the jurisdiction of a political unit such as a sovereign state, the process of ratification is rather different. For example, ratification by a British Overseas Territory (OT) is achieved by extension to it of a UK treaty. It does not have authority to become a party to a treaty in its own right.