Reducing marine plastic litter – global project extended through 2025

A major global project to help the maritime transport and fishing sectors in developing countries move towards a low-plastics future, has been granted an extension by the main donor, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).

The new end date of December 2025 will allow the GloLitter Partnerships Project, which is led by IMO and implemented in partnership with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to complete planned activities. These include supporting the selected partnering countries in developing port waste management plans (PWMPs), conducting port state control (PSC) trainings on national and regional level, and advancing legal and policy reforms at the country level to address marine plastic litter from sea-based sources (SBMPL).

Since its establishment in December 2019, the GloLitter project National Action Plans (NAPs) to address SBMPL, facilitated regional partnerships to implement joined projects, produced many knowledge products to help enforce existing regulations, including IMO's International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) Annex V.

Through the project, thousands of participants have attended regional and national trainings both in person and virtually. A key focus has been on empowering women to participate in the key regional and global events. Countries have been supported in national legal and policy reform to support implementation of international treaty obligations related to control of garbage from ships (MARPOL Annex V) and FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear.

The GloLitter project sits under an umbrella programme to address plastic litter from shipping and fisheries. Another project, the Regional Litter Project (RegLitter), will specifically supports national priorities in addressing sea-based sources of marine plastic litter in countries in Asia, and support implementation of the regional partnerships in the region.

New proposals are being developed to leverage additional funding from different donors beyond 2025 to support implementation of the national priorities identified in national action plans, advance regional joint initiatives, and implement pilot projects and innovative solutions to tackle marine plastic litter originating from shipping and fisheries sectors.