As a follow up to the Marine Regions Forum 2019 (October 2019) with the purpose to develop clear recommendations, catalyse actionable outputs, and build partnerships for stronger regional ocean governance in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially Sustainable Development Goal 14 "Life Below Water", and a webinar organised by the Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) (October 2020) with the aim to further discuss a) the opportunities and challenges of regional initiatives and instruments in combatting marine plastic litter and b) their possible roles and contributions as part of a strengthened international framework including a potential future global agreement to combat marine plastic litter, an online webinar was organised by IASS on 17 February 2021 to present and discuss the main conclusions and recommendations of a report "Stronger together: The role of regional instruments in strengthening global governance of marine plastic pollution". The report was the final product of a research project that analysed regional instruments' role in combating marine plastic litter and identified linkages of these regional efforts with a new global agreement on marine plastic litter. Apart from presenting the report's highlights, the webinar included a panel discussion reflecting on the role of various regions and regional ocean governance bodies under a new global agreement. 
The online launch webinar included two sessions organised for different geographic regions. NOWPAP Coordinator, Dr Yegor Volovik, contributed to this online event as a panellist in one of the sessions. Among the event participants, there were several representatives of National Governments, UNEP, Regional Seas Programmes and Action Plans, other UN Agencies and multilateral organisations, and representatives of various bodies and private sector representatives playing a role in regional ocean governance. Altogether, 210 participants attended the event (94 total users in the morning session and 116 in the afternoon session).
After the authors' presentation, a panel discussion was organised to reflect on the report's findings and recommendations and share practical experiences from regional institutions and national governments on the actual situation of combatting marine plastic litter on a regional and national level. The Head of the Marine set the tone for the discussion and Freshwater Branch of the Ecosystems Division of UNEP, Ms Leticia Carvalho, presented UNEP's standpoint on the issues of regional ocean governance and a role, mandates, and key activities of the UNEP-administered Regional Seas Programme. Specifically, Ms Carvalho shared perspective regarding the role of regional instruments in combating marine plastic litter and possible linkages of regional efforts with the new global agreements and placing it in the current global context. The panellists were requested to share their experience in practical aspects of their work in addressing marine plastic pollution at a regional or national scale.
During his interventions Dr Volovik shared NOWPAP's experience in addressing marine litter, including marine plastics, in the Northwest Pacific region, specifically on i) expectations of the ocean community from a new global agreement and the gaps in the current governance systems, which could be addressed by a global legal framework and ii) on the challenges encountered in undertaking regionally coordinated monitoring and assessment of marine plastic pollution and how a global agreement could support these efforts.
Other panellists elaborated on the main achievements of regional instruments in combating marine plastic pollution, solutions to address marine plastic pollution, and expressed views on how a new global agreement could support the efforts undertaken in specific regions and vice versa, including synergies between the regional and the global level.
As negotiations for a global agreement continue, the team of authors of the report recommended that regional cooperation to prevent marine plastic pollution be strengthened further – not least because these negotiations could well continue for several years. "We can't wait that long and simply accept the status quo – this problem is too big and too urgent," says Sebastian Unger, Research Group Leader at IASS.
The Report could be found at:
Wienrich, N., Weiand, L., Unger, S.: Stronger together: The role of regional instruments in strengthening global governance of marine plastic pollution, 02/2021. DOI: 10.48440/iass.2021.008
