Mercator Ocean International

GEO’s Blue Planet Initiative aims to ensure the sustained development and use of ocean and coastal observations for the benefit of society. One of our main activities this year, led by GEO Blue Planet’s EU Office has been centred on monitoring and addressing the challenges of marine litter, a worsening global problem. Advocating, engaging and cooperating with as many stakeholders as possible is a prerequisite for progress and an underlying principle of GEO Blue Planet. We were present at the 2022 place to be: the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon. We made GEO very visible with our official side-event on integrating marine litter monitoring to inform action, which was a real success. We welcomed over 80 participants from 23 countries, advocating the necessity of a global sustained Integrated Marine Debris Observing System (IMDOS) and its links to the UNEP Global Partnership on Marine Litter. The proceedings from this event will inform the proposed IMDOS Terms of Reference and interim Steering Committee, who will work together with the new IMDOS project coordinator to develop the IMDOS strategy and implementation plan. This momentum will continue during our 5th Symposium in Accra, Ghana during which we will improve GEO Blue Planet’s engagement with African nations to expand the Earth Observation community of practice, strengthen local capacity and provide access to resources, tools and services. We are expecting about 200 participants from various stakeholder groups and on of the plenaries is dedicated to ecosystem conservation, which explores microplastics, and the potential role for satellite data.

Audrey Hasson

GEO Blue Planet EU Coordinator, Mercator Ocean International