Organized by the EU H2020-funded Black Sea CONNECT CSA, Marine Litter Action Forum took place on 14-15 November 2022 in İstanbul, Türkiye.

The Forum presented the actions already in place and featured emerging new initiatives and projects in order to best coordinate all efforts towards a common approach at the basin level. The co-creation and networking opportunity provided by the Forum paved the way for future cutting-edge actions toward zero pollution in the Black Sea. The event attracted over 200 distinct stakeholders from the private sector, academia, ministries, funding agencies, and NGOs from the Black Sea region and elsewhere in Europe.

A joint vision is now emerging not only on a plastic-free Black Sea but also including all forms of pollution and stressors influencing the Black Sea’s resilience against global and regional changes. 

The event kick-started with the opening remarks of Black Sea CONNECT coordinator Baris Salihoglu, who stressed the necessity of sustainable solutions and innovative actions to combat marine pollution in the Black Sea. Salihoglu also remarked SRIA as the scientific pillar of CMA and noted the H2020 BRIDGE-BS and DOORS projects as its implementors, which are vital for the Black Sea Basin.

Moving forward to the opening session, Elizabetta Balzi, Head of Unit of the DG Research and Innovation, highlighted the Mission Ocean and Pilot  Lighthouses such as the Baltic, Med, Danube river basin including the Black Sea, and Atlantic, and Arctic Coast. By proposing a very inspiring slogan “Rather than what the Black Sea has done for you, think about what you can do for the Mission Black Sea!”, Balzi also congratulated METU-IMS for endorsing the Mission Ocean.

Shortly after, participants had the chance to listen to Christos Economou, Head of Unit, DG Maritime Affairs, and Fisheries. Emphasizing in particular that EU efforts will continue, Economou also touched on the Black Sea CONNECT’s contribution to CMA with solution-oriented and multi-methodological approaches. The opening session continued with the speech of H.E. Ambassador Lazăr Comãnescu, Secretary General, Permanent International Secretariat of the BSEC, who noted that “The Black Sea has an unjustified reputation as the most polluted sea basin, which is unfair.” But he still expressed hope that goodwill and wisdom will prevail to overcome the challenges in the region. The session ended with Iryna Makarenko, Pollution Monitoring and Assessment Officer of the Black Sea Commission. After outlining the efforts of The Permanent Secretariat of the Black Sea Commission, Makarenko underlined the need for national pilot actions to take actions one step further and the need to engage with the public.

Moderated by Vangelis Papathanassiou of METU-IMS, the first session focused on Marine Litter in the Black Sea have begun with the motivating speech of Sigi Gruber, Active Senior Adviser of the European Commission. In her speech, Gruber shared the different EU programmes that support marine pollution-related Research and Innovation, emphasized the importance of science to tackle the plastic problem, and the funding opportunities under Mission Ocean. The session also provided specific works of experts; Ulgen Aytan of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University and Christos Ioakeimidis of UNEP/MAP. While Aytan was introducing “Plaston” as a new term she coined from PLAStic and plankTON: Now an inseparable component of marine life, Ioakeimidis has exemplified marine litter action plan paradigms in other sea basins as well as the previous experience at COP22 as a great practice that aims to lighten the possible solutions to the litter-free Mediterranean. Once and for all, Salome Kobaidze, Elena Culighin, and Selma Menabit pitched their actions, awareness-raising campaigns, and activities as Black Sea Young Ambassadors alongside introducing the programme.

The day followed with the Plastic Circularity session moderated by Olgac Guven of Akdeniz University. Given the worrying facts of increased production of plastic led by packaging and the global increase of marine plastic pollution, Nilgun Kiran Ciliz of Bogazici University underlined the possibility of having more plastics than fish by 2050. Shortly after, George Triantafyllou of HCMR presented the journey of recycled plastic and stressed that there are ocean-friendly companies that remove plastic from oceans and transform them into new products. While coming to the end of the 1st day of the MLAF, Feng Wang of the UNEP and Shardul Agrawala of OECD took to the floor to convey the scientific and public interest in plastic pollution and concerns to human and environmental health as well as the potential solutions to eliminate problematic and unnecessary plastic, including hazardous additives.

The event concluded with a roundtable panel consisting of the newly established Operational Network of Funders of the Black Sea SRIA, an initiative facilitated by Black Sea CONNECT. In the roundtable moderated by Black Sea CONNECT Co-Coordinator Mustafa Yucel, ONF representatives of 4 countries including Türkiye, Georgia, Bulgaria, and Moldova, and Viktor Komorin, a Ukrainian representative from the scientific community, gave valuable insights on the implementation of Litter solutions in their countries. In the first round, from the point of view of their national initiatives, regulations, and experiences; they have outlined how the marine litter (ML) issue is currently affecting their communities, business sectors, and efforts for making the Black Sea healthier. In the second round, they have put forward proposals for their country’s specific solution needs, and current national programs and/or plans that address directly or indirectly the ML issue.

Besides the science and research aspect of marine pollution, MLAF also drew attention to the issue with artistic side events. Attendees could have a chance to see stunning art pieces from the waste collected from the seas in the marine litter awareness-raising exhibition “Yüzleşme/Confrontation” by Şinasi Yelkenci. Moreover, a photograph exhibition comprised of the winners and selected photographs from the Photo Contest “Visual Storytelling of the Black Sea: Different Shores, Different Reflections, and One Sea”, driven as part of the awareness-raising campaign of the Black Sea Young Ambassadors, took place with the participation of one of the winners, Tolga Taymaz. Last, but not least, MLAF showcased several projects, research, and good practices in the posters session where attendees could hear about different studies that conduct research on plastic waste, marine litter, and the marine environment as well as the story of the investment startup Tene that produces eco-friendly USB cables.

With all these informative, eye-opening, visionary, innovative, and at the same time constructive components, the MLAF event ended with a wrap-up summarising of Baris Salihoglu with particular stress on peace as a demand in the Black Sea Region to conduct more effective research and science for a better future of our seas and oceans.

Based on the discussions that took place, we are launching the Black Sea Connect Marine Litter Questionnaire, which aims to identify the marine litter problem in the Black Sea and establish the ways of mitigation, which will also feed into the Implementation Plan. Please fill out the questionnaire by the 15th of December and share it with relevant stakeholders from your country.