Commissioner Sinkevičius to open the Ceremony "World aquariums against plastic pollution" and to launch a new Global Coalition for Biodiversity in Monaco on 3 March

The European Commission launched in 2017 the campaign “World aquariums against marine litter” in the framework of the 4th Our Ocean conference hosted in Malta by the European Union. Following the enormous success of that campaign, it was decided to transform it into a formal commitment announced by the European Commission at the 5th Our Ocean conference in Bali in 2018, together with UNEP and 5 international partners.

The aim of the campaign was to have by 2019 at least 200 aquariums raising public awareness about plastic pollution, and this target was reached. There are currently 212 aquariums in 41 countries involved in the coalition "World aquariums #ReadyToChange to #BeatPlasticPollution".  All over the world they organise permanent activities in their facilities, from exhibitions to debates, beach clean-ups to artistic displays. Many have also started to change their procurement policies, for example in canteens and shops, in order to eliminate all single use plastic items. This global action is supported by many partners, including NGOs such as Surfrider and celebrities such as Spanish singer and actress Ana Belén and Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik.

These actions complemented the European Commission’s communication campaign "#ReadyToChange" aimed at single use plastics. The Commission proposed in May 2018 new EU-wide rules to target the 10 single-use plastic products most often found on Europe's beaches and seas, as well as lost and abandoned fishing gear. Together these constitute 70% of all marine litter items. This eventually resulted in the adoption of Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment.

It was agreed that the Commission would hand over to UNEP the coordination of the coalition, to be hosted under the Clean Seas campaign, following the entry into force of the Directive. The ceremony will mark this handover from the European Commission to UNEP. At the ceremony, the European Commission will launch a new, bigger coalition for biodiversity.

Livestream available as of 10 am CET

Background

Since 2018, the global coalition of world aquariums focusing on plastic pollution is being coordinated by the European Commission, together with the United Nations Environment Programme and with the support of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, the European Union of Aquarium Curators, the World Association of Zoos & Aquariums, the U.S. Aquarium Conservation Partnership and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.

Since then, the new EU Directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment entered into force in July 2019.