GPML-IAEA CoP Workshop

IMDOS through its Secretariat and several of its Steering Committee members participated to the GPML-IAEA Community of Practice (CoP) Workshop on Harmonization of Monitoring and Assessment of Plastic Pollution.

The workshop was organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) supporting the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter (GPML), in partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The GPML CoP workshop took place from 11-13 March 2025 at IAEA Environment Laboratories Monaco in hybrid mode.

This workshop gathered experts of plastic pollution across the plastic lifecycle, including members of CoPs, experts and researchers leading plastic monitoring and assessment efforts, and data partners/providers of the GPML Digital Platform.

The first session set the scene, with presentations from key entities including UNEP, CSIR, UNITAR, GESAMP, and the Imperial College London. Daphne Lecellier from the EU Office of GEO Blue Planet, supporting the IMDOS initiative presented in person IMDOS’ vision and mission statements followed by the current implementation strategy.

The participants were then divided into 3 break-out groups aligned on the plastic lifecycle:

• Plastics in the Economy (production, trade, and leakage from consumption).
• Waste Management (waste handling and emissions).
• Plastics in the Environment (macro- and microplastics on land and in water).

This GPML CoP Workshop aimed to:

• Identify KPIs across the plastic lifecycle for comprehensive progress measurement towards addressing plastic pollution from source to sea;
• Identify key terminologies and definitions to inform a glossary for greater comparability of data of identified KPIs;
• Explore options for data integration and expansion of the Digital Platform Data Hub for global and national monitoring and assessment and progress tracking;
• Further align efforts and strengthen coordination with international partners through the GPML.

Workshop outcomes included the break-out group on Plastics in the Environment suggesting coastal marco-litter monitoring as a KPI although more discussion between experts would be needed as areas of concern remain. Units, size range, characterization, frequency of the survey and localisation are still needed to be discussed. Next steps would be to organize workshops with various regional groups of experts, and beach cleanup organizations to ensure the feasibility of the proposed guidelines on the ground.