Scotland held its first International Marine Conference in Glasgow in February 2019.  ACE and East Haven presented a poster abstract of the work undertaken locally to contribute to clean and healthy seas. Representatives from more than 10 nations met to share information and collaborate on ideas and interventions to save our seas from pollution and the impact of climate change. Inspiring speakers contributed to debate and discussion about issues from reducing litter at source to interventions to remove it and reuse it. Our seas provide around 70% of our oxygen and it really is a race against time to save the marine environment from catastrophic pollution of all types. It is generally agreed that around 80% of marine litter comes from land based sources such as street litter, agricultural and industrial sources. A number of initiatives are taking place across the world to educate people and reduce the amount of non-reusable waste being produced. There is now a real urgency at both a global level and a local level to act quickly to save the the seas and ultimately the planet for future generations.

A key outcome of the conference was that the British Irish Council agreed three key areas where they could collaborate further to ensure progress on this issue: establishing a system to facilitate the recycling of end of life fishing gear; co-operative working to further reduce the loss of pre-production plastics across the supply chain; and improving educational materials and modules on marine litter for young people and the fishing industry. Minsters also agreed to register these actions as a joint voluntary pledge in the UN Communities of Ocean Action registry of voluntary commitments for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14.