Integrated Marine Debris Observing System

Why is monitoring marine debris important? 

According to the definition of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), marine debris, also referred to as marine litter, is characterised as “any persistent, manufactured or processed solid material discarded, disposed of or abandoned in the marine and coastal environment” (UNEP⁷) Overall, plastic waste makes up most debris identified in aquatic systems, accounting for approximately 80% of the total debris by number (Morales-Caselles⁴).

Plastic pollution is poorly reversible -if not completely irreversible- because even if plastic emissions into the environment cease immediately, existing environmental load of plastic waste and its continuous weathering will result in ongoing pollution for a prolonged period (MacLeod²). A comprehensive monitoring strategy covering both temporal and spatial dimensions is necessary to tackle the global distribution and impacts of such a complex pollutant. This strategy should encompass the generation of harmonised data through sustained long-term observations, thereby facilitating the assessment of regulatory effectiveness.

What is IMDOS?

An Integrated Marine Debris Observing System (IMDOS) was first introduced at the OceanObs’19 conference by a group of experts as a strategic tool to provide guidance and coordination for a global, sustained observing system to address marine debris pollution Maximenko³. IMDOS is being developed to fulfill this need with the support of GEO Blue Planet and Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), in collaboration with the UNEP through the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter (GPML), the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) Working Group 153, GESAMP Working Group 40, the International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group Task Force on Remote Sensing of Marine Litter and Debris, Ministry of Environment Japan (MOEJ), among others.

Short-term part-time coordination support for IMDOS is provided by GEO Blue Planet and GOOS with funding from the European Union facilitated through the EU4OceanObs and H2020 EuroSea projects. As part of this effort, IMDOS Strategy and Implementation Plans are being developed under the guidance of an Interim Steering Committee. A dedicated web portal and other communication channels are being created to ensure the dissemination of information to stakeholders.

Interim IMDOS Steering Committee

Stefano Aliani (The Institute of Marine Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy)
Paolo Corradi (European Space Agency, the Netherlands)
Francois Galgani (Ifremer, National Institute for Ocean Science, France)
Georg Hanke (Joint Research Centre, Italy)
Kara Lavender Law (Sea Education Association, USA)
Nikolai Maximenko (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, USA)
Toste Tanhua (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany)
Alexander Turra (University of São Paulo, Brazil)

Coordination

Audrey Hasson (Mercator Ocean International/GEO Blue Planet EU Coordinator, France)
Artur Palacz (Global Ocean Observing System/ IOCCP/IOPAN, Poland)
Mine B. Tekman (Mercator Ocean International/GEO Blue Planet consultant, Turkey)

Why do we need IMDOS?

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 set out as one of its targets to “by 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution”. In March 2022, the 5th United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2) adopted a historic resolution (Resolution 14) to end plastic pollution, including in the marine environment and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024, endorsed by representatives from 175 nations.

To achieve the ambitious goals of the UN SDGs and of the UNEA-5.2 Resolution 14, there is a critical need for accurate, up-to-date information on marine debris, plastic pollution, and related topics. However, coverage, resolution and quality of data remains heterogenous, lacking global coordination and unable to meet the recommended science and policy requirements for global scale monitoring (GESAMP¹). Monitoring global marine plastic debris and understanding its transport are the key pillars for supporting the establishment of realistic plastic debris reduction targets and developing policies to reach these targets. The UNEP 2021 “From Pollution to Solution” report (UNEP, 2021) emphasizes that despite the significant improvements in detecting and quantifying marine debris, the coordination and cooperation among existing monitoring programs remain a challenge. To fulfill this need, IMDOS aims to serve as a scientific advisory board with the goal of coordinating a framework for the collection and analysis of scientific data related to marine debris that can inform the decisions of policy makers.

IMDOS’ Objectives

promote the development of a global network of marine debris observations according to Regional Seas Programme Action Plans and integrated within GOOS in cooperation with existing ocean observing infrastructures, networks and communities of practice;
define strategies and priorities for coordinated and harmonised marine debris observations based on most relevant monitoring methods, standards and practices;
promote integration of data management activities to provide free and open access to marine debris data and information products for stakeholders, leveraging the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) Digital Platform;
support the development of remote sensing methods to detect marine debris by enhancing availability of required ground-truthing data;
strengthen the interface between marine debris monitoring and modelling communities to support the development of a Digital Twin of the Ocean for Marine Litter Pollution;
evaluate the readiness level and promote technological innovation to advance global observing approaches;
develop standard sampling protocols and best practices in marine litter data collection and support training activities for their implementation;
create communication services for the marine debris community including links to advocacy resources and other components of the multidisciplinary global ocean observing system.

Events

IMDOS stakeholders have organized several community events to define the objectives and strategies of the framework. In addition to these events, an international workshop will be convened in August 2023 to address one of the greatest needs of marine debris analyses: Data Harmonization. The adoption of standardized metadata structures that would allow data harmonization across different studies, data centers and monitoring programmes is crucial to support establish a federated data management system that complies with data requirements of marine debris research and monitoring. The UNEP GMPL Community of Practice on Data Harmonization and the IMDOS in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ) Marine Plastic Litter Monitoring Data Sharing Project, European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) Technical Group on Marine Litter, European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) Chemistry, and the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) among other potential data centres will be working together in this workshop on establishing interoperability to support UNEP’s federated model on the GPML Digital Platform.