University scientists join world leaders at global plastic pollution negotiations
Members of the International Marine Litter Research Unit join the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution in Kenya

The UN plastic pollution treaty offers a once in a planet opportunity to address this global issue. However, the impacts and the solutions vary among nations, meaning there is no one-size-fits-all approach to reducing production, consumption, waste and litter. If we are to avoid unintended negative consequences it is essential – as national delegations advance their considerations of the text for the Treaty here in Nairobi – that those deliberations are properly informed by independent scientific evidence.
Professor Richard Thompson OBE FRS
Head of the International Marine Litter Research Unit
Marine litter is a global environmental problem with items of debris now contaminating habitats from the poles to the equator, from the sea surface to the deep sea.