For the better part of five decades, plastic has been pouring into the world’s oceans, poisoning marine life, sullying beaches and, infamously, feeding a garbage patch that’s bigger than France.

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.

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.

Bangkok, 10 September 2018 –Sweden, UN Environment and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) today announced efforts to combat marine litter and plastic pollution in Southeast Asia over the coming four years, through a project that aims to ensure that less plastic leaks through waste management systems.

Marine plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental challenges of our time. This fall, UN Environment, together with the animation studio Kurzgesagt, is challenging schools and youth groups worldwide to be part of the solution and join our “Back to School Plastic Challenge”.

On 26 September, UN Environment awarded the 2018 Champions and Young Champions of the Earth Awards. Two of the Young Champions, Miranda Wang and Miao Wang, are intervening to prevent marine plastic pollution at different points.

Miranda has invented a way of turning unrecyclable plastic waste into chemicals to build new materials. She focuses on removing plastic from waste before it even reaches the ocean.

Lyon, France, 13 November 2018 – An international law enforcement operation against maritime pollution has revealed hundreds of violations and exposed serious cases of contamination worldwide.

In a bid to promote ocean health and sustainability, and encourage stronger female representation in Australian sailing, the first all-female professional crew to enter the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race has announced its campaign to win the coveted Tattersall Cup in Hobart.

An interview with Mr. Ola Elvestuen, Minister of Climate and Environment of Norway

UN Environment has been a megaphone for marine litter and microplastics. Norway is particularly proud to have partnered with UN Environment to put this issue on the global environmental agenda. Now we need to take it to the next level.

• World first expedition in a boat made from plastic waste and flipflops
• 6 stops along the African coastline to inspire communities on how to repurpose their own plastic waste, and promote UN Environment Clean Seas Campaign.
• Only 9% of the 9 billion tonnes of plastic the world has ever produced has been recycled.

January 10, 2019: A traditional dhow sailing boat made entirely from plas