GloLitter Partnerships Project

The GloLitter Partnerships is a project between the Government of  Norway, IMO and FAO aiming to reduce marine litter. The global project will support developing countries, including Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), in identifying opportunities for the prevention and reduction of marine litter.

Key Goals

The GloLitter Partnerships project will assist developing countries to prevent and reduce marine litter, especially plastic marine litter, within the maritime transport and fisheries sectors and identify opportunities for the reduction of plastic uses in both industries. Within the existing policy and regulatory frameworks and with help of new tools developed and lessons learned from interventions in other sectors and strategically linking with FAO and other on-going global and regional initiatives related to marine plastic litter (MPL), GloLitter will expand government and port management capacities, instigate legal, policy and institutional reforms at the country level. The project will develop mechanisms for sustainability, and enhance regional cooperation to support transition of maritime transport and fisheries sectors towards a low plastics future. GloLitter will achieve its objectives by focusing on a number of areas identified in the recently adopted IMO Action Plan to Address Marine Plastic Litter from Ships, and in complementary actions as identified by FAO, including supporting the provisions of the recently-endorsed FAO Voluntary Guidelines for the Marking of Fishing Gear.

This major programme will also spur global efforts to demonstrate and test best practices to deal with MPL, and will enhance global knowledge management and information sharing to support the objectives. The partnership will be three-tiered involving global, regional and country level partners; representing government, industry and non-governmental organizations. Private sector participation will be achieved through developing an overarching Global Industry Alliance (GIA) in collaboration with UN Global Compact with partners from major maritime and fisheries companies. In addition to identifying new interventions for industry to address sea-based marine plastic litter, the GloLitter GIA will build on and promote relevant existing initiatives, such as the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI). 10 countries, from 5 high priority regions (Asia, Africa, Caribbean, Latin America and Pacific), will take Lead Partnering Country (LPC) roles in their respective regions to champion national actions in the context of supporting the IMO Action Plan and the FAO Voluntary Guidelines. The LPCs will help catalyze regional momentum by supporting a minimum of 20 Participating Countries (PCs) to follow the path via a twinning working arrangement. In addition, a number of developed countries and Strategic Partners whose expertise and capacities will benefit this global effort will join the effort; thus altogether forming a partnership of more than 40 countries, organizations and private sector corporations.

              

Funding

This global project is funded by Norway with a view to establishing a multi-year, multi-donor programme, the proposed initial three and half year and NOK 40 million (about US$ 4.5 million*). The GloLitter project will be executed by IMO in partnership with FAO.

As of 2021, two additional donors are on board: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and The Commonwealth of Australia. 

Participating Partner Countries

Ten countries have been confirmed as Lead Partner Countries (LPCs) and a further twenty countries have been selected as Partner Countries (PCs) of the GloLitter Project.

LPCs will take lead roles in their respective regions to champion national actions in the context of supporting the IMO Action Plan on Marine Litter and the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for the Marking of Fishing Gear.  The LPCs and PCs will work together, via a twinning working arrangement, to build regional support for the project. 

The 10 Lead Partner Countries are Brazil, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria and Vanuatu. 

The 20 Partner Countries are Argentina, Cabo Verde, Colombia, Ecuador, Gambia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Solomon Islands, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga and Viet Nam. 

Workstreams

The main workstreams of GloLitter will include:

1. Knowledge management and capacity building products, guidance documents, training material and toolkits developments in order to enable subsequent capacity building activities.
2. Country status, policies and action plan developments to undertake legal, policy and institutional reforms to implement relevant international requirements that would be integrated to the national waste management policies and regulations.
3. Capacity building to enhance the enforcement of MARPOL Annex V, the London Convention and London Protocol (LC/LP) and relevant FAO instruments as well as port waste management.
4. Prevent and reduce ghost fishing through facilitating actions to prevent dumping of fishing gear.
5. Establishment of public-private sector partnerships to identify best practices and develop new industry solutions together with actions for empowering women engagement in reduction of MPL efforts and development of a detailed project proposal for pilot projects, replication and global scaling-up of the GloLitter Project achievements under a phase II project.