UK and Vanuatu join forces to tackle marine litter

UK scientists have joined forces with their Pacific counterparts to help turn the tide on marine litter.

Thérèse Coffey, Environment Minister is in Vanuatu for the South Pacific Region Commonwealth Litter Programme conference.

Launched in April last year, The UK and Vanuatu co-chair the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance, an initiative to unite countries across the Commonwealth in protecting the marine environment, 24 countries have joined this alliance and pledged action on plastics.

Since November 2018, scientists from the UK’s Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) have been monitoring the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu environment to collect data on marine litter and working with partners to tackle plastic pollution in the ocean.

This forms part of the Commonwealth Litter Programme (CLiP), a £6million programme which sees the UK help countries develop national litter action plans.

Cefas scientists have already recovered 15,000 items of litter from beaches monitored across Vanuatu and Solomon Islands.

Recognising the international scale of the problem, the government has pledged up to £66.4million through the CCOA to boost global research and prevent plastic waste entering the oceans.

“Protecting our marine environment is a global challenge which requires global action. This conference is a fantastic opportunity for our world-leading scientists to share their expertise in the international fight to tackle marine litter,” said Thérèse Coffey, Environment Minister.

“Through the UK and Vanuatu-led Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance we will use the collective power of the Commonwealth to protect our marine environment for future generations.”

Thomas Maes, Cefas’ CLiP Programme Lead, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands to tackle the emerging issue of marine litter. Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”