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The Transition | June 2023
People and progress in solving the ocean plastic crisis

About OpenOceans Global. Our work centers on mapping ocean plastic, curating the best solutions, and linking together a community of ocean plastic experts and leaders. Learn more on the Weather Channel's Pattrn interview, NBC7/39's Down to Earth segment, and ArcNews.

Past issues of The Transition.

We were pleased to be interviewed on a Weather Channel show, Pattrn, on May 24, 2023, speaking about the ocean plastic crisis.

Image credit: Pattrn/Weather Channel

A Call for 50 Ground Truth Images

OpenOceans Global is working on a pilot program with a satellite imagery firm and a machine learning consultant to identify beaches fouled by plastic from space. We need 50 ground truth images of densely packed plastic on a shoreline at least 5 meters square. If you can help, click here for the details.

Did You Know?

Saudi Arabia, Brazil, China, and India delayed substantive talk in developing a plastic treaty for two days, vying for individual countries to have veto power instead of decisions by a 2/3 vote.

Taking a Deeper Dive

UN Plastic Treaty Negotiations - Three Key Conflicts Emerge

Image credit: Plastics News

The second of at least five United Nations negotiating sessions to draft a plastic pollution treaty ended on June 2, 2023, in Paris, France, with a consensus-based agreement that the group should return in November in Nairobi, Kenya, with a first draft of a legally binding treaty for negotiators to review. Known as the “zero draft,” this first version of the treaty will provide a framework and a set of options for negotiators to consider.

According to Plastics News on June 2, 2023, industry groups at the talks “expressed optimism that the session made progress. Some environmental groups agreed but noted that oil-producing countries and fossil fuel industries were trying to weaken the treaty … delegates, including those from environmental groups and industry, held talks throughout the week on recycling challenges, extended producer responsibility, chemical health issues, the status of informal workers in the recycling industry, microplastics and other topics.”

Three key conflicts will have to be resolved if a binding and effective plastic treaty ultimately emerges by the end of 2024.

Conflict One – Rules for Decision-making. The good news that the treaty will move forward to a zero draft was blunted, according to Politico, in a June 2, 2023, article when “one side — led by countries including Saudi Arabia, Brazil, China, and India — pushed for treaty decisions to be adopted by consensus, giving individual countries veto power. Other countries — including the EU, the U.S., the U.K., and Norway — wanted them to be put to a vote, dependent on a two-thirds majority.” In the end, the decision was tabled until the next talks in November 2023. The ultimate resolution of this key conflict will guide what is ultimately possible.

Three countries seeking to block voting rules are top ocean plastic polluters.

It is important to note that three of the four countries leading efforts to block decisions by a 2/3 vote are on the lists of the top ten countries leaking plastic into the ocean. While China, India, and Brazil’s motivations are likely economic rather than opposition to environmental progress, if these three countries, which are the source of between 20% and 30% of ocean plastic, are not supportive of binding rules on plastic pollution, then it will be hard for the treaty to achieve the hoped-for goals.

Previous conflicts surfaced when substantive discussions began on day three.

Conflict Two – Limiting Plastic Production vs. Recycling. The High Ambition Coalition, which includes 55 nations led by Norway and Rwanda, along with environmental groups, “want to end plastic pollution altogether by 2040 by slashing production and limiting some chemicals used in making plastics,” according to a story on PBS News Hour on June 3, 2023.

The coalition put out a public statement of negotiating positions, calling for "binding provisions in the treaty to restrain and reduce the production and consumption of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels," according to a story in Plastics News on May 30, 2023. Plastics News also reported that some sources are suggesting that “disputes over potential caps on resin production were a significant reason” the talks got off to a rocky start.

PBS also said that “countries with big petroleum industries like the U.S., China and Saudi Arabia are focusing instead on plastic recycling” instead of caps on resin production. Corporate interests want the focus to be on the circular economy, moving toward the capability to recycle 100% of plastic produced. This has been a long-standing conflict.

Conflict Three – National Plans vs. Binding Commitments. Some of the same countries that want to focus on recycling also “want country-by-country rules instead of across-the-board limits.” This strategy to use national plans has been modeled by the U.N.’s climate treaty with mixed results.

The challenge for the negotiating group will be to begin bridging these three major conflicts when negotiators meet again in November.

For more information about the plastic negotiations, see the following resources:

The International Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution website.
The United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) Plastics 101, a quick guide to the global plastics negotiations, helpful with understanding the terminology and the issues.
The Geneva Environment Network overview of the INC process.
The May issue of The Transition also provides an overview.

Tracking Plastic News

A Blast from the Past. This September 1983 cover from the satirical MAD magazine projects the future of ocean plastic, trash, and marine pollution in general.

Mad Magazine Plastic Trash.png Image credit: MAD Magazine

Commentary: Is the UN seeking pain rather than gain?, Recycling Today, May 2, 2023
Global plastics recycling market to grow 50% by 2030, report says, Plastics News, May 16, 2023
Case Studies: Investigating Where Garbage Goes Around the World, Global investigative Journalism Network, May 22, 2023
Toxins hidden in plastics are the industry’s dirty secret – recycling is not the answer, The Guardian, May 25, 2023
Reducing Plastic Pollution in Our Oceans Is Simpler Than You Think, New York Times, May 25, 2023
Plastics Recycling Is Far Worse Than We Thought, Mother Jones, May 29, 2023
River diversions may cause microplastics to remain longer on land and in streams before reaching oceans, Phys.org, June 5, 2023
EPA standing pat on pyrolysis regulations for now, Plastics News, June 6, 2023

Help Locate Plastic-Fouled Coastlines

Each month we share an image of a beach fouled by plastic, like the one below. The images we share are confirmed by OpenOceans Global’s team, but there are many beaches in the world that we know are fouled by ankle-deep plastic that lack location data and backup information. You can help us find these beaches and put them on our ocean plastic trash map. To report a shoreline pervasively fouled by significant amounts of plastic debris, use our online plastic trash reporting app. Thank you!

This Month’s Coastal Hotspot: A beach somewhere in Bali, Indonesia

Two girls Bali Beach.png Image credit: South China Post

Solutions to the Ocean Plastic Crisis

See more solutions on our ocean plastic solutions page. Have a solution we should know about? Submit it here.

This Month’s Featured Solution: AlphaMERS Floating Trash Barrier

Image credit: AlphaMERS

In India, AlphaMERS Ltd. has developed solutions for river cleanup using floating trash barriers to arrest solid waste in eight rivers. These low-tech barriers in rivers direct floating debris to the bank, where excavators remove the debris. On the Cooum River that runs through the city of Chennai, India, AlphaMERS installed eight steel mesh trash traps that drape across the flow of the river, arresting the trash but allowing boat traffic to pass over undisturbed. The Floating Trash Barrier (FTB) collected 2,200 tonnes of plastic and 19,800 tonnes of other debris in a single year.

Meet the Experts and Leaders

OpenOceans Global is identifying ocean plastic experts from around the world. Here are two experts leading efforts to reduce plastic pollution that you should know about.

Ambassador Gustavo Adolfo Meza-Cuadra Velasquez, Chair, International Negotiating Committee (INC) developing the United Nations International Plastic Treaty

Ambassador Meza-Cuadra 600x400.png Image credit: Earth Bulletin

Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra is a Peruvian diplomat with experience in political and economic multilateral negotiations. He is the chair of the United Nations International Negotiating Committee (INC), seeking a global agreement on plastic pollution. He also co-chaired the United Nations Open Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (UNICPOLOS) between 2015 and 2017. As president of this group, he promoted topics related to the relationship between the oceans and sustainable development, between climate change and the oceans, and, in 2016, the problem of marine debris, plastics, and microplastics in the ocean. That discussion promoted the need for an international agreement on plastic pollution, an effort he now leads. In addition to his important role in leading plastic treaty negotiations, Ambassador Meza-Cuadra is also the Peruvian Ambassador to the United States. He was previously Minister for Foreign Affairs (2019-2020) and Permanent Representative to the UN when Peru was a member of the UN Security Council (2018-2019), holding the Presidency of this main body on two occasions. He has held several other positions in Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Director General of Sovereignty and Limits, Ministerial Advisor for Law of the Sea Issues, Director of Integration, and Deputy Director of the United Nations. The ambassador has represented Peru in the United Kingdom, France, and Guatemala. He has also served as the Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Peru, the body dedicated to the training and improvement of Peruvian diplomats. He is a graduate of the Diplomatic Academy with a Bachelor’s degree in international relations and has a Master's degree from Johns Hopkins University. Besides Spanish, he is fluent in English and French and has basic skills in Arabic.

Valerie Hickey, Global Director, Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy, the World Bank

Image credit: World Bank

Valerie Hickey is a Global Director for Environment, Natural Resources, and Blue Economy (ENB) at the World Bank. In her current role, ocean plastic pollution falls under her jurisdiction. In a recent blog post, she wrote, “of the 460 million tons of plastic produced in 2019, 353 million tons were discarded. This disposal includes the okay (recycling, even if it’s globally less than 9%), the bad (50% ending up in unmanaged dumps), and the ugly (the remainder simply ending up poisoning the environment).” She represents the World Bank as a member of the Steering Board of the Global Plastic Action Partnership. Prior to her current position, Hickey oversaw the implementation of the World Bank’s commitments on climate change, climate mainstreaming, and climate finance. Before that, she was the practice manager for ENB in Latin America and the Caribbean. Much of ocean plastic reaches the ocean in Asia, and when Hickey joined the World Bank 19 years ago, she worked as a specialist in East Asia and the Pacific, working on environment and rural development projects in Cambodia, China, and Laos. When Hickey became chair of the blue economy, biodiversity, and wildlife crime communities of practice, she convened the bank’s deep technical expertise to accelerate the role of natural resource management in getting people out of poverty and into the middle class. Before joining the World Bank, Hickey worked for World Wildlife Fund, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the U.S. National Park Service. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Policy from Duke University.