Plastic and other pollution

Every year, over 300 million tons of plastic are produced. Millions of tons of plastic end up in our ocean and rivers every year. However, plastics are only one type of pollution driving the decline in ocean - and planetary - health. The ocean is also threatened by eutrophication (nutrient load), sediment load, light pollution, marine resource extraction, noise, and chemical pollution. The Earth faces challenges of air, water, and soil pollution, too.

Effects of pollution include biodiversity loss, declines in health, loss of livelihoods, and other negative consequences. Pollution in the ocean causes marine heatwaves, ocean acidification, and deoxygenation. Rivers lose their ability to support plant and animal life if they are polluted. Air that is polluted causes many health problems.

The cumulative impacts on species, humans, and ecosystems need to be addressed. On this page and supporting pages IUCN offers solutions and resources to restore and revitalise our planet and our ocean.

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Blueprint: an approach to scale up solutions to achieve "zero plastic pollution…

This document shares best practices to scale up results, scale up results to achieve a zero pollution in islands.

News | 20 Oct, 2022

Novel concepts and alternatives to turn plastic waste into useful products –…

Plastic waste and pollution affect every part of the globe and every ecosystem. Innovative solutions that use recycled plastic material for reusable food containers, construction materials, furniture…

Story | 19 Oct, 2021

Marine Heatwaves: a serious threat to marine biodiversity and livelihoods

Back in 2011, extremely warm water temperatures persisting over thousands of kilometres along the coastline of Western Australia caused coral bleaching, mass die-out of marine life and…

Press release | 03 Sep, 2016

Turn down the volume: New IUCN guide helps navigate seismic survey impacts on…

Honolulu, Hawai’i, 2 September (IUCN) – A guide launched today by IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, outlines best practices to ensure environmentally responsible seismic surveys…

About plastic and other pollution

The majority of marine plastics come from land-based sources, including urban and storm runoff, sewer overflows, beach visitors, inadequate waste disposal and management, industrial activities, construction and illegal dumping. Ocean-based sources are derived mainly from the fishing industry, nautical activities and aquaculture.

The bad news is that once released into our oceans, plastic never goes away. It does not biodegrade. It simply fragments into small particles, named micro- and nanoplastics under the influence of natural factors (solar UV radiation, wind, currents, etc). But the good news is that we can take action to turn these problems into solutions.

To better understand the extent of plastic and other pollution, IUCN has produced several analytical pieces of work and is supporting research, economic analysis, national and international policy creation and improvement, circular economy, and programmatic action in several countries.

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Roughly 70%

of plastic pollution sinks to the ocean floor

Plastic debris in the Ocean

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17 countries

where IUCN has implemented plastic pollution projects

Learn more about our project outputs in the Mediterranean, SE Asia and the West…

Story | 06 Jul, 2020

Deep-sea mining effects may be felt from top to bottom, surface to seabed

Seabed mining effects will probably not be confined to the sea floor, argues a Proceedings of the National Academy (PNAS) journal article from the University of Hawaii, co-authored by IUCN's…

Story | 07 Jun, 2021

Ocean Acidification: The what, where, how, why and what next on this major…

In the last 200 years, the ocean has taken up around 30% of all CO2 emissions and this absorption has altered the production of calcium carbonate in oceanic waters, causing the …

Press release | 27 Oct, 2020

Over 200,000 tonnes of plastic leaking into the Mediterranean each year – IUCN…

Gland, 27th October 2020 (IUCN) - A new IUCN report finds that an estimated 229,000 tonnes of plastic is leaking into the Mediterranean Sea every year, equivalent to over 500 shipping containers…

Story | 03 Feb, 2010

Global Assessment of Light Pollution Impact on Protected Areas.

This working paper produced by CIESIN and AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH examines the impacts of light pollution and approximate human influence on protected areas.

Plastic Waste Free Islands

Since 2019, IUCN has been working to empower Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to measure plastic pollution and identify effective circular economy, policy, and sectoral interventions for fisheries, tourism and waste management. Efforts have focused on Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, and St Lucia in the Caribbean and Fiji, Samoa, and Vanuatu in the Pacific.

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