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BRIEF 001 • 2017 S C I E N C E D I V I S I O N

Sustainable : Marine Development Goals Policy Brief

About Keep the oceans clean

The Goals Policy Briefs highlight a hotspot of environmental change. The An integrated evidence provided builds on the scientific data and approach to information hosted on the online platform Environment Live and is complemented by stories collected around address pollution the world. Readers may find out what is happening to from land to their changing environment and the consequences of is needed to everyday choices; and think about future directions for policy in the framework of the 2030 Agenda for sustainably manage Sustainable Development. marine and coastal resources Marine pollution is the result of deliberate or accidental discharge of untreated wastewater, dumping of solid and other polluted runoff from a variety of land-based activities directly into our rivers and coastal waters. Healthy oceans are productive oceans, and resilient marine and coastal are essential to achieve sustainable development. Addressing marine pollution helps achieving: Joining the #CleanSeas UN Environment as Custodian Agency for campaign accelerates some key indicators related to “Goal 14 • SDG 2 Zero Hunger Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, the global efforts to and marine resources for sustainable • SDG 3 Good Health and Well-Being tackle marine development” • SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation 14.1.1 Index of Coastal (ICEP) and Floating Density • SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production 14.2.1 Proportion of national Exclusive Economic Zones • SDG 14 Life Below Water managed using based approaches 14.5.1 Coverage of protected areas in relation to marine • SDG 15 Life on Land areas

1 Sustainable Development Goals | Policy Brief S C I E N C E D I V I S I O N Facts and figures Action

Main contributors to marine pollution Towards solutions . . .

+37% increase in domestic material consumption in 20 years Countries committed to a 109 Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment of plastic produced in 2015 322 million tonnes from Land-Based Activities

of municipal wastewater produced annually where in many Ingestion and entanglement 270 billion m3 from marine litter harms over parts of the world as much as 80% is discharged untreated Countries have joined 600 marine species, of which 143+ 18 Regional Seas Conventions of per hectare of arable land consumed in 2013 with low >8 million 15% are endangered and Action Plans, of which 123 kg use efficiency, losses to the environment can be as high as 80% tonnes of already have an indicator-based plastic leak monitoring mechanism in place chemical and oil spills occurred worldwide as a result into the ocean 5 116 of industrial accidents between 1967 and 2016 already issued Protocols or Annexes every year 12 on Land-Based Sources of pollution

Nutrient pollution from excess fertilizers and Countries already joined manure are the primary sources of the #CleanSeas campaign loads in marine ecosystems, causing an 30 on marine litter over-enrichment process called eutrophication. This involves a shift from to fast-growing harmful that consume and can cause and invertebrate deaths. . . . for achieving 16% of Large Marine Ecosystems at high risk of eutrophication. Most of these are located in Western Europe, Southern and Eastern Asia and the Gulf of Mexico

Recovery Wastewater of treatment use efficiency

13% 45% Improved plastic management National Exclusive Marine key biodiversity Reduction of Economic Zones protected areas protected single-use plastic

Sources: CRED/EM-DAT (2013), FAO (2011), FAO (2013), PlasticsEurope (2016), UNEP (2017), UNEP/RSP (2017), UNEP-WCMC (2017)”

2 Sustainable Development Goals | Policy Brief S C I E N C E D I V I S I O N

Initiatives on the ground Battling coastal eutrophication in the Going straight to the source in the USA Philippines

North America continues to implement a series of initiatives to monitor marine pollution pollution in Manila Bay and address the introduction of into the oceans, including identifying and in adjacent Laguna de Bay, their main sources. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) works with the largest lake in the Philippines, the International Maritime Organization to develop and implement legal standards is a major concern. Nutrients, that address vessel-source pollution and ocean dumping. It also partners with the mainly in the form of nitrogen Environment Programme to reduce land-based sources of pollution in and compounds the Gulf of Mexico and the wider Caribbean region. In order to address the issue of that come from farmland runoff, oceans pollution, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is untreated and detergents also engaging in strong outreach and activities dedicated to minimizing the in domestic wastewater have been introduction of debris into the marine environment. causing eutrophication both in Contributor: University of South the lake and the coastal Manila Bay. This has been affecting with negative Preventing untreated wastewater to Banning plastic Freeing the Mediterranean from marine litter impacts to the health of aquatic ecosystems and the health of enter the Caribbean bags in Kenya The is one of the most affected by marine litter, citizens with significant economic having some of the largest amounts of Municipal Solid consequences. In 2008 the More than 80% of sewage enters the On 28 August 2017, generated annually per person: approximately 208-760 kg/person/ Supreme Court of the Philippines untreated, making it the primary source of land- Kenya banned the year, the vast majority of which is , which may reach up mandated that all government based marine pollution. During the last five years, use, manufacture and to 90% of the recorded marine litter items. The Mediterranean agencies and other bodies work the Caribbean Environment Programme has helped import of all single-use countries, Parties to the Barcelona Convention, are joining efforts together in restoring the water countries reduce the negative impacts of untreated plastic bags. The ban for freeing the Mediterranean from marine litter with the entry into quality of the Manila Bay and its sewage discharge through the Caribbean Regional is an effort to reduce force in 2013 of the first-ever legally-binding Regional Plan on Marine coastal areas to address the root Fund for Wastewater Management project. As a result, the negative impact of Litter Management. In this framework, specific actions are on-going: causes of the current degradation, 13 wastewater treatment facilities were rehabilitated in plastic on the national for instance, Mediterranean countries are implementing -for- including the problems of nutrient Jamaica, and a new wastewater treatment plant was environment, health and litter and adopt-a-beach pilots. To tackle plastic litter at its source, over-enrichment. UN Environment, built in . The Caribbean Environment Programme economy, following the the Mediterranean Action Plan Secretariat is also providing technical through the Global Programme is also working to reduce nutrients pollution from findings of 2.5 plastic assistance to the Mediterranean countries in order to develop the of Action has been contributing agricultural discharge with the governments of bags on average inside legal framework for the banning of single-use plastic bags at the to local efforts in understanding Jamaica and Costa Rica, and has contributed to the the stomachs of cows in national level. the nutrient cycling processes, establishment of the Caribbean Platforms for Nutrients Western Kenya. nutrient enrichment pollution and and Wastewater Management. The first State of the the environmental consequences Convention Area or Pollution Report will be published toward the development of in 2018 with the aim of assisting governments of the improved practices to address the Wider Caribbean with the reduction and prevention of problem. marine pollution.

For more information www.unep.org environmentlive.unep.org | contact: [email protected] | cleanseas.org

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