News

Ocean Heroes Network (cofounded by Captain Planet Foundation and Lonely Whale) is collaborating with Caribbean youth and NGOs to launch the first ever REGIONAL Ocean Heroes Bootcamp with the goal of engaging youth from across the Caribbean to develop campaigns for the health of our ocean and the Caribbean Sea. 

Join our next GPML webinar: “Towards a GPML Digital Platform”. This webinar will offer a high-level overview of the forthcoming GPML Digital Platform, as well as an opportunity to discuss multi-stakeholder functionalities, the data aspects and to share feedback.

Date: 10 December 2020

Visit our new online online repository and interactive dashboard. These tools showcase existing activities by different stakeholders, to reduce marine litter and microplastics. More than 220 initiatives have already been captured.

Moving forward this will be a key part of the GPML Digital Platform. 

The Reef-World Foundation – the international coordinator of the UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative – has launched new Green Fins cleanup guidelines to help dive and snorkel operators organise and host environmentally friendly coastal cleanups.

24-26 November 2020

SEA of Solutions is an annually occurring partnership event towards solving plastic pollution at source, convened by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), through the SEA circular project supported by the Government of Sweden. This year’s SEA of Solutions 2020 will be organized in collaboration with the government of Viet Nam.

On the launch of the report, Impacts of Sand and Dust Storms on Oceans: A Scientific Environmental Assessment for Policy Makers, author and University of Oxford lecturer, Nick Middleton discusses how the dust cycle affects and interacts with other global-scale biogeochemical cycles.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) — Global Environment Facility (GEF) Project “Addressing Marine Plastics: A Systemic Approach” invites you to a virtual launch of the new report “Addressing Marine Plastics: A Roadmap to a Circular Economy.”

A new digital platform to help dive professionals protect fragile coral reefs has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2020 Con X Tech Prize, an award that provides seed funding to innovative conservation projects.

In Chiang Rai, Thailand, a city perched on the banks of the Mekong River, a group of some 90 residents and university students came together to pick up trash on 19 September.

Like millions of others, they were marking World Cleanup Day, an annual event that encourages communities to tidy up litter from rivers, beaches, cities and even the seafloor.

Watch the Mediterranean Regional Node's webinar on “The Impact of COVID-19 on the Increase of Plastic Waste in the Mediterranean" here.  

Speakers:

Daniela Tulone, Ph.D. Founder and President, ecoSurge, Italy

Dr. Eva Alessi Head, Sustainable Consumption and Natural Resources, WWF Italy

Francois Galgani, Project Manager, Ifremer, France

Unprecedented wildfires, storms and glacier melt are the strongest indications yet of how climate change threatens life on Earth. The world has seen big declines in summer sea ice in the last two decades, with the lowest extent recorded in 2012. 

Request for expression of interest: A review of marine plastic litter in the WIO region

Early last year a dhow – a traditional East African sailing vessel – travelled over 500km south down the coasts of Kenya and Tanzania, calling in at nearly a half-dozen ports along the way.

It’s a trip made by many boats. However, the Flipflopi was a dhow with a difference. Rather than the traditional wooden construction, the 10-metre, seven-tonne vessel was made entirely from waste plastic collected on Kenya’s beaches.

Join the next Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Marine Litter! The MOOC was developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Open Universiteit of the Netherlands, as a key activity of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML).

This video introduces the issue of marine litter and the role that the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) plays in helping solve the problem.  

Marine litter is waste created by humans which is discharged in coastal or marine environments. An average of 8 million tonnes of plastic enters the ocean each year, impacting economies, ecosystems and human health.

When you are a small island nation, every inch of space counts. But from rising sea levels to natural disasters and coastal erosion, in the age of climate change many islands are shrinking before their citizens’ very eyes.

New York, 20 August 2020 – The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and The Ocean Agency, in collaboration with creativity partner Adobe, today launched Ocean League, a new campaign that showcases the power of creativity in driving positive change for ocean protection and climate action.

 The National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) have conducted an extensive review of nearly 400 scientific publications on marine plastic pollution in 13 countries in South East and East Asia. The review includes a comprehensive report of published plastic pollution research, policies and initiatives in ASEAN+3 as well as a searchable database of research and a series of graphics. It is the first review and database of its kind for the region.

In the lead up to International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem on 26 July, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is running a series of stories on mangroves, and their impact on the environment and economies of countries across the world.

Would you like to dive into the gorgeous Caribbean country of Belize to learn about how to protect our marine ecosystems?

In the lead up to International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem on 26 July, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is running a series of stories on mangroves, and their impact on the environment and economies of countries across the world.

UN Environment Programme has created immersive digital experiences for its #WildforLife campaign. These four ecosystem-based “journeys” show the magic of interconnected natural systems and inspire people to take action to protect these distinct ecosystems.

From promoting innovative eco-design to banning the use of single-use plastic straws, efforts to curb plastic pollution are as ubiquitous as plastic itself. However, the problem is not going away. It is time to adopt a new strategy.

July 18 marks International Save the Vaquita Day to raise awareness about this critically endangered marine mammal, which is part of the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Wild for Life campaign.