IUCN, Global Marine and Polar Programme

Of the 8,300 million tonnes of plastic produced from 1950 to 2015, only 7% has been recycled while more than half has been discarded in landfill or leaked into the environment. Companies, organisations, and governments are taking measures to tackle plastic pollution. However, there is currently no standard methodology to measure the extent of the plastic problem.

This policy brief examines the existing Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and ratified National Determined Contributions (NDCs) with regard to the inclusion of specific efforts addressing blue carbon ecosystems, namely mangroves, target_idal saltmarshes and seagrasses, as climate mitigation or adaptation solutions.

The purpose of this study on seamount and hydrothermal vent ecosystems is to review the state of knowledge on the subject matter in order to better guide decision-making processes to develop and implement conservation and sustainable management measures, as well as to discuss knowledge gaps and present recommendations.

The sea below 200 meters depth accounts for 95% of the volume of the ocean, making it the largest habitat for life on Earth. Though it is perpetually cold, generally dark, and subject to extreme pressures, the deep sea contains a wealth of unique and unusual species, habitats and ecosystems. It also contains a wealth of mineral resources, some of them in unique or highly enriched concentrations.

The ocean on which Earth depends for relatively predictable weather, temperature and provisioning of goods and services is now changing more rapidly than it has for millions of years. This is due to human interactions with the  atmosphere and land, and increasing expansion of the footprint of human impacts across the ocean.