9 April 2015: Crew members of the ‘Race for Water Odyssey (R4WO),’ an expedition that is conducting the first global assessment of plastic pollution in the ocean, participated in a series of outreach events on marine litter in New York, the US, a stopover after crossing the Atlantic. These events included a plenary session on the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML), which highlighted the need to clean up beaches, seas and oceans while also preventing new plastics and micro-plastics from entering the marine environment.

The six crew members of the R4WO are visiting island beaches located in trash vortexes to assess plastic pollution in the ocean. The Race will cover over 40,000 nautical miles in 13 countries in less than 300 days. It will include 11 scientific stopovers and 9 outreach stopovers. UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner described the Race for Water Odyssey as “a pioneering and inspiring expedition that is helping to uncover the true impact of pollution in the world’s oceans, 80% of which comes from human activities.”

Marine debris is an issue that is becoming more serious every day, UNEP Regional Office for North America Director Patricia Beneke, told participants at the GPML session, emphasizing that the problem will require collaboration by the global community. Nancy Wallace, GPML chair, said eight million tons of plastic enter the marine environment each year and stressed the impacts of plastics on marine birds, mammals and sea turtles. She explained, for instance, that every single bird autopsied in Midway Atoll in the North Pacific had plastic in its stomach. Marco Simeoni, President, the Race for Water Foundation, presented R4WO’s scientific approach and findings from its first two scientific assessments at the event.

Participants also recognized microplastics as part of the marine pollution problem, noting their presence in products such as face wash, makeup and toothpaste, and highlighting the need to examine their role as a potential pathway of chemicals through the food web. Participants recommended, inter alia, prevention as key in addressing marine pollution. UNEP organized the session on the GPML at UN Headquarters in New York with the Race for Water Foundation, the GPML, the Permanent Missions of France, Nauru, Norway and Switzerland to the UN and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The session took place on the sidelines of the 16th Meeting of the UN Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (ICP-16).

The GPML aims to coordinate and support private and public action in the fight against marine pollution. Race for Water, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, focuses on protecting oceans and freshwater. The International Sailing Federation (ISAF), Duke University, Oregon State University, senseFly, Swisscom and Swissnex have provided support for the Race. [UNEP Press Release] [R4WO Website] [GPML Website] [IISD RS Coverage of ICP-16]