Not just another drop in the Ocean: Ensuring UNOC 3 delivers tangible impact for the Ocean
link to this position paper in pdf
Surfrider Foundation Global Affiliates – June 2025
We, members of the Surfrider Foundation global network, have acted for decades1 to protect and preserve our Ocean and the communities that depend on and enjoy the Ocean and seas over the globe.
The third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3), taking place in Nice (France) from June 9-13, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, is a major opportunity to assess progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) “Life Below Water” and advance concrete actions to protect and sustainably use the Ocean.
In the face of an increasingly alarming environmental crisis – marked by accelerating biodiversity loss, climate change, and the escalating marine pollution crisis – including from plastics – UNOC 3 comes at a critical juncture. It has the potential to set the stage for transformative joint actions and international agreements, including the long-awaited Global Plastics Treaty, with negotiations set to continue in August in Geneva. Surfrider Foundation’s global network stands ready to contribute to this historic moment, urging governments to turn commitments into actions and accelerate their efforts!
UNOC 3: AN OPPORTUNITY TO REVERSE THE TREND FOR A HEALTHY OCEAN FREE OF PLASTICS IN THE LEAD-UP TO GENEVA
Surfrider Foundation’s global network has gathered plastic pollution data as the main type of waste impacting our ocean, seas and blue spaces across the world, both visible (macro-plastics) and invisible (microplastics and nanoplastics). This data has served as a foundation for advocating bold, science-based policies. But NGOs cannot address the crisis alone. During the same decades, plastic pollution has persisted due to an increase in global production and a lack of ambition from policymakers and the private sector.
- – Plastic pollution has been documented to harm more than 700 marine species, including over 90% of seabirds, through ingestion, entanglement, and habitat disruption. By 2050, 99% of seabirds will have ingested plastic2 ;
- – Reaching 460 Mt in 2019, global plastic production is expected to triple by 2060, and more than a half will end up in landfills 3 ;
- – Plastics contain more than 16,000 known chemicals, with a quarter of plastic chemicals being known to be hazardous, and 66% having no available hazard data. To date, only 6% of plastic chemicals are currently regulated globally;
- – Microplastics are present in our organs, from our lungs, livers and brain, including in placenta with 100% of placenta tests samples showing contamination, 4this raises critical health concern that can rise chances to develop diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and many cancers5;
- – Plastic pollution exacerbates the impacts of other major crises affecting the ocean, including biodiversity loss and climate change (see below). As a result, it undermines the ocean’s overall resilience and its ability to continue providing vital ecosystem services for present and future generations. These services range from carbon sequestration and energy generation to food provision, recreation, and overall human health and well-being.
- – Meanwhile, the right to a clean and healthy environment is increasingly recognized as a human right. Yet, plastic pollution severely undermines this right by exposing nearby communities – including informal waste pickers at the forefront – and humans to toxic emissions and long-term ecological harm.
Given the wide-ranging impacts of marine pollution, it was among the first environmental crises to be acknowledged and addressed within international frameworks. Yet, we remain far from resolving it. Despite the scale and urgency of this issue, plastic pollution has been largely absent from the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) agenda for months—an omission that must be urgently rectified and reinforced in the UNOC 3 Declaration.
Plastics must stay a priority, in particular, on the international stage. The fifth session of negotiations, held in Busan, Republic of Korea, concluded in December 2024 without reaching a final agreement. Despite significant progress in earlier sessions, negotiations stalled due to opposition from major plastic-producing countries. Plastics must be a key priority of UNOC before the next round of negotiations – which includes reinforcing the wording on this matter in the UNOC 3 Declaration – to keep the momentum and ratchet-up the ambition for an effective and bold Treaty.
To this end, Surfrider calls Member States to reaffirm their will for an ambitious Treaty that:
- – Stops pollution at source;
- – Protects the environment and human health from all adverse effects and risks related to plastics – including microplastics and nanoplastics – in a comprehensive life cycle approach based on the precautionary principle.
- – Integrates the full life cycle of plastics, from plastics production and consumption to marine litter for an efficient Plastics Treaty.
- – Sets a global plastic reduction target of 75% by 2050 in alignment with the Paris Agreement, with key legally binding pollution prevention measures that apply to all State Parties.
- – Aligns the entire plastics value chain with respect for human rights and social and environmental justice by minimizing health and environmental impacts.
- – Includes the elimination of the most problematic plastic products and chemicals of concern present in plastics.
- – Promotes zero waste, reuse and refillable systems, encourages the development of eco-design and supervises the development of the right alternatives.
[1] See for example our joint recommendations: Recommendations from Surfrider International affiliates for the second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on the UNEA Resolution 5/14 to End Plastic Pollution (May 2023); Ocean Call (August 2019): https://www.surfrider.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/oceancall_long_EN.pdf
[2] Van Maanen, M. A., et al. The Challenges of Plastics in the Marine Environment. Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 112, no. 38. pp 11600-11605. 2015.
[3] Perspectives mondiales des plastiques : scénarios d’action à l’horizon 2060 , OCDE 2022
[4] Plasticenta: First evidence of microplastics in human placenta, Antonio Ragusa, et al. Raman Microspectroscopy Detection and Characterisation of Microplastics in Human Breastmilk, Antonio Ragusa et al., 2002
[5] Symeonides et al. An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses Evaluating Associations between Human Health and Exposure to Major Classes of Plastic-Associated Chemicals. Ann Glob Health 2024; 90 (1): 52, 1-54.
[6] OECD. Plastics: The Environmental Crisis. August 18, 2022.
[7] European Commission. Microplastics: A European Overview. JRC Scientific and Technical Reports. 2017
[8] Suyadi & Manullang. Distribution of plastic debris pollution and it is implications on mangrove vegetation. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 160, 111642 (2020).
