United States Announces Commitments at Seventh “Our Ocean” Conference

The seventh Our Ocean Conference – hosted by the Republic of Palau and the United States –brought together governments and non-state actors to make concrete commitments to protect ocean health and security. The United States announced more than 110 commitments, from 14 agencies and offices, worth nearly $2.64 billion. These commitments spanned the issue areas of the conference, including climate change, sustainable fisheries, sustainable blue economies, marine protected areas, maritime security, and marine pollution.

Marine Pollution Highlights

The marine pollution session featured efforts and programs that target marine plastic, the fisheries sector, maritime transport, and infrastructure development.  It also featured recycling initiatives and lifecycle approaches for plastics; clean-ups and remediation/restoration efforts; and research and innovation.  U.S. announcements included:

 

  • USD 350 Million in Improvements to Recycling Infrastructure to Reduce Land-Based Sources of Plastic Waste to the Marine Environment

  • USD 200 Million to Prevent and Remove Marine Debris

  • National Estuary Program Infrastructure Investments for Projects that will Reduce Pollutant Loadings into Freshwater Ecosystems and the Ocean

  • Support for U.S. States to Implement the Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan

  • The USAID Clean Cities, Blue Ocean Program

  • USD 37 Million for the Department of Energy’s BOTTLE Program to Improve Plastic Recycling

  • A Funding Opportunity for Research on Chemical Upcycling of Polymers

  • More than USD 24 Million for Two Energy Frontier Research Centers Related to Plastics

  • USD 8 Million from NSF for the Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation Engineering the Elimination of End-of-Life Plastics Program (EFRI E3P)

  • Intention to Provide USD 5 Million to Combat Marine Pollution via Support for Pillar 2 of the World Bank’s PROBLUE Multi-Donor Trust Fund Subject to Congressional Notification and Availability of Funds

  • A USAID Blended Finance Partnership with Circulate Capital

  • USAID’s Local Solutions for Plastic Pollution Activity

  • The Plastics Solution Alliance

  • Over USD 859,000 to Monitor Nutrient Drivers of Coastal Dead Zones

  • USD 810,000 to Establish the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Marine Debris Management and Innovation Sub-Fund

  • USD 180,000 for a Grant to Build Capacity for Environmentally Sound Management of Plastic Waste in West Africa

  • A Cooperative Arrangement to Establish Center for Marine Debris Research

  • The Department of Energy’s Plastics Innovation Research and Development Strategy

  • Joining of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative

  • The National Institute of Standards and Technology Biorepository Will Archive Marine Animal Tissues to Support Marine Research

  • A Forthcoming Strategy for Post-Consumer Materials Management and Water Management

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