Marine Litter Vital Graphics

RESPONSES

the GPA. The regulatory power of the GPA is limited but it aims to be a source of conceptual and practical guidance for national and/or regional authorities in devising and implementing sustained action to prevent, reduce, control and/or eliminate marine degradation from land-based activities. UNEP provides the Secretariat for the GPA. Other global or multinational initiatives The Honolulu Strategy formulated in 2011 is the only specific framework for a comprehensive and global effort to reduce the ecological, human health, and economic impacts of marine debris globally (UNEP and NOAA, 2012). It is focused on preventing the input and impact of marine debris from both land- and sea-based sources and on the removal of already accumulated debris. It aims to provide a common frame of reference for collaboration and sharing of best practices for action plans, programmes and projects. It is also envisaged as a monitoring tool to measure progress in combating marine debris. Under the GPA, the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) was launched in June 2012. The GPML, which builds on the Honolulu Strategy, is a voluntary multi- stakeholder coordination mechanism in which all partners agree to work together towards the reduction and management of marine litter. During their summit in 2015, the Group of 7 (G7 – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union) committed to

the Action Plan to Combat Marine Litter, which includes priority actions to address land-based and sea-based sources, priority removal actions and priority actions on education, research and outreach. The UNEA resolutions The first session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in 2014 adopted resolution 1/6 on marine plastic debris and microplastics, which requested UNEP to present a study on the topic to the second session of UNEA. A newmore action oriented resolution 2/11 on marine litter was adopted in May 2016 which for example called for establishment of public-private partnerships, development of campaigns for awareness-raising, prevention and clean- up and encouraged product manufacturers to consider the lifecycle environmental impacts of products containing microbeads and compostable polymers. It also requested UNEP to assess the effectiveness of relevant international, regional and sub-regional governance strategies and approaches to combatmarineplastic litter andmicroplastics. Regional seas bodies Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans (RSCAPs) play a critical role in encouraging cooperation and coordination among countries sharing a common resource. There are 18 Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans covering more than 143 countries (UNEP, 2016a). Of these, the following 13 were established under the auspices of UNEP (with those currently administered by UNEP in italics): Black Sea, Caspian, Wider Caribbean,

Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore a Thailand Indo ia, M laysia, Philippines, Singapore a Thailand

Regional action plans on marine litter Regional action plans on marine litter

Baltic Sea Baltic Sea

North-East Atlantic North-East Atlantic

Black Sea Black Sea

North West Paci c North West Paci c

Mediterranean Sea Mediterr nean Sea

Wider Caribbean Wider Caribbean

ROPME Sea ROPME Sea

East Asian Seas East Asian Seas

Paci c Paci c

Action plan in place Action plan in place

Action plan in development Action plan in development

Note: countries with two or more colors promote multiple action plans N te: countries with wo or more colors promote multiple action plans

Source: UNEP (2016a). Marine Plastic Debris and Microplastics: Global lessons and research to inspire action and guide policy change. United Nations Environmental Programme, Nairobi Sourc : UNEP (2016a). Marine Plastic Debris and Microplast cs: Global ess ns and resea ch to inspire action and guide policy change. United Nations Environmental Programme, Nairobi

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Marine Litter Vital Graphics

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