Less plastic and pollution in the Greenland marine environment

The overall aim of the project is to increase citizen awareness in Greenland about the importance of local sources and their contribution to marine environmental pollution, as well as to promote the protection of the sea against waste and waste water. The long-term goal of the project is to contribute to reduced plastic pollution from local sources in Greenland in order to meet the UN SDG goal nr. 14 (life in the sea) by protecting the marine environment and coastal ecosystems.  The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has declared plastic waste in the ocean as an urgent global challenge, also for the Arctic. Regional maritime conventions (e.g., OSPAR and HELCOM), as well as the EU and PAME (working group for the protection of the marine environment in the Arctic Council), have adopted action plans to reduce the sources of plastic in the ocean. Our project will map out how local sources, such as wastewater and coastal waste dumps, as well as tourism and fishing activities in Greenland, contribute to plastic pollution in the ocean. Based on the knowledge generated in the project concerning pollution sources, as well as from environmental studies and risk assessments, we will inform, identify, and implement solutions to reduce plastic and waste pollution in the vulnerable marine environment around Greenland through workshops with school children, fishermen, and the broader population, as well as through tourism-targeted awareness campaigns.