The Community: Marine debris or litter is a growing threat to the health of the ocean. The community requesting this VCC is grounded in an "Ocean Plastics" initiative of the Oceanic Engineering Society of IEEE. The initiative has been organizing workshops addressing the knowledge needs, the use of Earth observations to meet these needs, and assessing options for mitigation and prevention of marine debris with a strong focus on plastics. The initiative is collaborating with a number of organizations including the Blue Planet Initiative of the Group on Earth Observations and UNEP. The initiative is aiming to broaden the community by including a wide range of societal stakeholders of the marine debris challenge.
Mission: The Marine Debris community aims to contribute to tackling the challenge that marine debris poses to the marine biosphere and, in many ways, to humans. To achieve this mission, the community assesses related societal knowledge needs, assesses existing technologies and identifies needs for new technologies, approaches and best practices, utilizes Earth observations and models to meet those knowledge needs, and assesses options that could mitigate existing marine debris or prevent future debris entering the ocean.
This VCC was opened on Jun. 27, 2022.
