UN Environment Programme

From coast to current: tracking plastic pollution through integrated ocean intelligence

A single plastic bottle can travel from a coastal city to the heart of a garbage patch, but its path has long been invisible. UNEP's new initiative changes that, tracking plastic pollution from coast to current through integrated ocean intelligence. This is not guesswork, it is calibrated, empirical data that reveals where litter accumulates and how it moves. Understanding drives protection. For deeper context on how validated data shapes global action, see our coverage of "Calibrating the energy transition with validated ocean intelligence."