Marine Litter was at the forefront of discussions at the UN Ocean Conference that ran from the 5th to the 9th June at the UN headquarters in New York. Seas At Risk* addressed solutions to the global threat, by co-hosting a side event and submitting a commitment on single-use plastics.

The UN Ocean Conference concluded on Friday, 9 June, with a global agreement to reverse the decline of the ocean's health, and more than 1,300 pledged actions for protecting the blue.

A healthy ocean will benefit global sustainable development in a number of ways, finds a new report published today by the Nippon Foundation-Nereus Program. With climate change and social inequity addressed, restoring the ocean will help alleviate poverty, provide livelihoods, and improve the health of millions around the world.

Henderson Island is one of the few atolls in the world untouched by humans. Lying in the eastern South Pacific, the location of the island was supposed to provide the ideal context for studying insular evolution and natural selection. Its unique ecology boasts of 10 plants and four land birds endemic to the island.

Ocean conservation is essential for protecting the marine environment and safeguarding the resources that people rely on for livelihoods and food security. But there are many documented cases where conservation has bumped up against the people who share the same places and resources, even leading to human rights abuses, say authors of a new report.

Microplastic aggregation and movement are significantly influenced by marine circulation and weather conditions. Microplastics are particles that measure less than 5 mm and are a growing concern. They not only become more applicable as other plastic marine litter disintegrates into tiny particles, but also interact with species in a variety of marine habitats.

The Ocean Conference taking place this June at UN headquarters is a unique opportunity to promote and accelerate action, partnerships, commitment and progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, "Life below water". The outcome will be a concise, focused, inter-governmentally agreed declaration in the form of a "Call for Action" to support the implementation of Goal 14.

Where is marine litter concentrated, and which species and ecosystems does it affect? Researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute have for the first time compiled all scientific data published on marine litter in a single, comprehensive database.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) is proud to announce the release of a new report detailing the potential of marine debris to act as a pathway for the introduction of invasive species.

Tiny plastic particles washed off products such as synthetic clothes and car tyres could contribute up to 30% of the ‘plastic soup’ polluting the world’s oceans and – in many developed countries – are a bigger source of marine plastic pollution than plastic waste, according to a new IUCN report.