IMO: Guidelines on How to Monitor Ocean Plastic Out

A new set of publicly-available guidelines for monitoring plastic in the oceans is expected to help harmonize how the scale of the issue is assessed.

The guidelines have been published by the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP), a body that advises the United Nations system on the scientific aspects of marine environmental protection.

They cover what to sample, how to sample it and how to record and assess plastics in the oceans and on the shoreline, including establishing baseline surveys.

They also include common definitions for categories of marine litter and plastics and provide examples of size and shape.

Sections cover citizen science programs and there are detailed chapters on monitoring sea surface floating plastic and plastic on the seafloor.

The guidelines are a response to the hitherto lack of an internationally agreed methodology to report on the distribution and abundance of marine plastic litter and microplastics and directly contribute to the U.N. SDG Goal 14 on the oceans.

Specifically, the guidelines are a response to target 14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including plastic debris and nutrient pollution.

On March 3, the United Nations led celebrations for the U.N. World Wildlife Day with a theme this year of: Life below water: for people and planet. Over three billion people depend on these resources for their livelihoods globally.

The market value of marine and coastal resources and related industries is estimated at $3 trillion per year, about five percent of global GDP.

“Five to 12 million tons of plastic now enter the ocean every year, threatening the health of countless species – from the smallest zooplankton to the largest whales. 90 percent of large predators have already been taken out of the ocean by overfishing, some 30 percent of fish stocks are over-exploited, and over 500 hypoxic areas have become ‘dead zones’ uninhabitable for most species,” said UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner.

“To reverse this, a literal ‘sea change’ is required in how we manage both ocean and land-based activities, across sectors ranging from fisheries to agriculture to waste management.”

In January, an alliance of global companies launched a new organization to advance solutions to eliminate plastic waste in the environment, especially in the ocean.

The cross value chain Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), currently made up of nearly 30 member companies, has committed over $1 billion with the goal of investing $1.5 billion over the next five years to help end plastic waste in the environment.

The Alliance will develop and bring to scale solutions that will minimize and manage plastic waste and promote solutions for used plastics by helping to enable a circular economy.

The Alliance membership represents global companies and located throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and includes oil majors Shell, ExxonMobil and Total.

The full set of guidelines is available to download free-of-charge from the GESAMP website here.