The levels of plastic debris in the marine environment are precariously alarming. The overall quantity of this waste has increased by 500 times as compared to what was in the 1950” s, sending shockwaves around the world in the policy-making chambers.

Marine litter, also known as marine debris, is human-made waste that has been thrown into a sea or ocean, either intentionally or accidentally. Marine litter washes up on beaches, collects in mid-ocean gyres, settles on seafloors, and can be consumed by marine life. This has both direct and indirect harmful effects on marine ecosystems, which is why the effort to remove marine trash is so important.

Human activity, such as the burning of fossil fuels like power generation, oil, and gas, is largely to blame for current global climate change. When these materials are burned, greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. Clean air, safe beverages, appropriate food, and safe shelter are among the environmental and economic determinants of health that are being impacted by global climate change.

With regards to this, the present article discusses as to what could be done about it.

Environmental Education

Public awareness and education efforts aimed at reducing or preventing garbage from entering the marine environment can be quite effective in reaching a wide range of public and private sector audiences.

Plastic bags, bottles, and cigarette butts are common targets for such initiatives, which focus on a certain form of litter or behavior that makes up a major portion of documented marine debris items. The UNEP Regional Seas programmer provides information on a variety of global, regional, and national campaigns and clean-ups.

Awareness and education programmers aimed at schools, communities, and industry can be quite effective in changing children's and adults' behavior. Building awareness and encouraging behavior change are especially critical in developing nations with distant coastal villages with limited infrastructure and capacity to handle garbage locally.

Education is a prime mover of global climate change. Knowledge of this phenomenon helps young people in comprehending and addressing the effects of global warming, as well as encouraging them to adjust their behavior and adapt to what is already a worldwide emergency.

Capacity Building for Informed Choices

Education and training are important capacity-building measures for increasing the long-term viability and institutionalization of climate change.

There are things, that can and should be done at the federal level, but these things, like legislation, can take years and sometimes decades to put in place, whereas community based solutions can be done much quicker. It’s important to be able to educate people not to litter, and to encourage people to participate in cleanup efforts.

There are several types of capacity building, which can be divided into the following categories:

1. Learning (e.g. colleges, institutions, and other intellectual service providers).

2. Training (e.g. courses, seminars, webinars, e-learning)

3. Collaborative effort (e.g. seminars, conferences, internet platforms, groups of action, and performance connections)

4. Personalized instruction.

5. Shoreline cleanups

6. Communal Synthesis

Inclusion and Collaboration

Climate action becomes more inclusive when a diverse variety of stakeholders are involved, policies are designed to be fair and accessible, and policy impacts are distributed equitably. There are now various global programs aimed at eliminating and preventing marine trash, as well as mitigating its effects.

A growing number of governments are taking steps to address marine litter. For instance, the Global Partnership on Marine Litter and the G7 countries, for example, have launched global projects. Similarly, the Global Partnership for Multi-Stakeholder Leadership (GPML) is a voluntary multi-stakeholder coordination structure that brings together politicians, civil society actors, scientists, and the commercial sector to explore solutions and stimulate actions.

As a result, an adaptive and flexible method with economic, environmental, and social benefits has been developed.

Policy Making

The IMO Action Plan to Address Marine Plastic Litter from Ships was endorsed by the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in 2018, with the goal of improving existing laws and introducing additional supportive measures to decrease marine plastic litter from ships.

The Action Plan of IMO gives a way to establish specified outcomes and activities to accomplish them in a meaningful and measurable way. The strategy builds on existing policy and regulatory frameworks, identifying possibilities to improve these frameworks and adopt new supporting measures to address the problem of ship-generated marine plastic trash.

Many European countries have implemented national emission reduction programs. Policies and measures at the EU level that are similar include:

1. Renewable energy (wind, solar, biomass) and combined heat and power (CHP) systems are being used more frequently.

2. Buildings, industry, and household appliances have all improved their energy efficiency.

3. CO2 emissions from new passenger cars are being reduced.

4. Measures to reduce pollution in the industrial industry.

Actions! Commitment! More Action!

Climate change is undeniable. Rising sea levels, severe weather events, deforestation, and the extinction of species have all been attributed to global warming. However, as people, we can help to limit global warming by taking modest, long-term activities in our communities.

Major actions to fight climate change:

 1. Reduce pollution - When possible, drive less and instead choose for sustainable modes of transportation such as bicycling or taking public transportation.

 2. Conserve energy - Read the labels on your appliances and avoid leaving them on standby.

3. Practice the three R's of sustainability: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

4. Act against forest loss – As far as possible, avoid anything that may be a fire hazard. Grow a tree! It can absorb up with a ton of CO2 throughout the course of its life.

Conclusion

Marine Litter is widely acknowledged as a major worldwide stressor to marine and coastal biodiversity and habitats, and that garbage imports into the ocean must be decreased.

Climate change will have an impact on people all around the world, including access to water, food production, health, and the environment. As the world warms, hundreds of millions of people may face starvation, water shortages, and coastal floods.

If these concerns are not addressed in due time, the mother earth will not spare us!