Plastics: Seas and Oceans

(asked on 2nd March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce plastic waste in the ocean.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 8th March 2021

Marine litter is one of the greatest environmental challenges we are facing with 80% of marine plastic litter originating from land-based sources and science predicting a threefold increase in the amount of plastics in the ocean between 2015 and 2025. Domestically our 25 Year Environment Plan establishes our target of reducing all forms of marine plastic pollution where possible, and our Resources and Waste Strategy sets out how we will achieve this.

Internationally, the UK has supported the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) since 2018; a pioneering initiative to accelerate the international response to addressing plastic pollution through uniting public, private and civil society leaders. GPAP has launched successful partnerships in Indonesia, Ghana and Vietnam, working with the most influential players across the plastics value chain, including local decision-makers and private partners such as Coca Cola and Nestlé to deliver on national commitments to tackling plastic pollution. The UK has also committed to launch a £500m Blue Planet Fund, financed from official development assistance (ODA), to help eligible countries protect their marine resources from key human-generated threats including climate change, marine pollution such as marine litter, overfishing and biodiversity loss.

Due to the scale of the marine litter challenge the UK believes it is time to start negotiating a new global agreement on marine litter and microplastics at the United Nations Environment Assembly. A new global agreement would build upon the important work we are doing to tackle marine litter both domestically and internationally and support our commitments to eliminate plastic entering the ocean.

Reticulating Splines