What's actually being done to fight plastic ocean pollution?

In 2022, UN member states passed a resolution titled ‘End Plastic Pollution’ and since then governments and corporations have been working on a number of global treaties and voluntary commitments to reduce their plastic footprints, with varying degrees of success.

The Nice Ocean Action Plan

The United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) is a three-yearly formal UN summit. In June 2025, the third conference, UNOC3, took place in Nice, France. This resulted in the Nice Ocean Action Plan. This called for greater global action to reduce the impact of climate change on oceans, supported a binding global treaty, and led to a significant increase in ratifications of the High Seas Treaty.

The UN High Seas Treaty

The UN High Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement) officially entered into force on 17 January 2026. It is the first legally binding agreement focused on protecting marine life in international waters. The UK formally ratified the Treaty on 10 July 2026.

The Treaty helps close regulatory gaps in areas beyond national jurisdiction, areas where a lot of plastic accumulates and governance has historically been weak.

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Global Plastics Treaty

The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) meetings continue, despite an impasse in August 2025 created by petrochemical interests blocking agreement on plastic production.

Following an interim INC5.3 meeting, a revised text for INC 5.4 scheduled for March 2027 is currently being drafted and there are hopes that this will include proposals that are already supported by a majority of UN countries in order to break the deadlock of consensus.

MARPOL Convention

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) Annex V was updated in May 2026 at the 84th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in London. It included a 2026 Strategy and Action Plan on marine plastic litter, a code for transporting plastic pellets and a reporting system for lost and abandoned fishing gear.

The MEPC targets pollution from the shipping sector, whereas the UN Global Plastics Treaty aims for a full life-cycle approach across the entire global economy

Our Ocean Conference

The Our Ocean Conference (OOC) is an annual event focused on multi-sector voluntary pledges. The 11th Our Ocean Conference (OOC) took place in Mombasa, Kenya, in June 2026, bringing together global leaders, NGOs, and businesses. It resulted in 320 new commitments worth US$6.4 billion for ocean conservation. 

Significant progress is being made but, for the most important provision, the Global Plastics Treaty, to succeed, civil society and the majority of countries must pressure petrostates to accept meaningful changes to plastic production.

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For more information contact: info@scarabtrust.org.uk

Image: globe encased in plastic - Image by MART PRODUCTION on Pexels (ST ref: 1375)

Edited by Sophia Stilwell, Mark Johnston