Nature conservation
The poison in our oceans
Plastic waste is a threat to our oceans' ecosystems as animals mistake waste for food and die in cruel circumstances. Dr Ralph Kadel, former member of the Management Board of Blue Action Fund, sets out possible solutions.
The author
Dr Ralph Kadel is a former member of the Management Board at Blue Action Fund. Before that, he worked as a conservation expert for KfW. This article about plastic waste in our oceans was written in partnership with Kirsten Offermanns from KfW.
Every year, around 311 million tonnes of plastic are produced around the world. For a long time now, a large portion of this plastic has made its way into our planet's oceans, with some devastating ecological and economic effects. A "garbage patch" the size of Central Europe is currently floating in the Pacific Ocean. An estimated 100 million tonnes of solid waste can currently be found in our oceans, with a further 6.5 million tonnes added every year. Up to 75% of this waste is made of plastic. However, this garbage patch tends to be invisible to humans as it is mainly made up of tiny particles that float beneath the surface of the water.
Over 80% of marine litter makes its way from the land into the ocean via rivers and sewers. The biggest problems are caused by packaging, plastic bottles and plastic bags, which can take over 400 years to biodegrade. Plastic fragments have been found in almost 700 different species of marine life ranging from zooplankton to cetaceans (a group including whales and dolphins). Animals mistake waste for food. This is particularly dangerous for sea turtles; once they have swallowed plastic, their stomachs are unable to ingest any food, causing the animals to die of starvation.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), plastic can be found in 90% of sea birds. In 1960, this figure was just 5%. Fishing lines and the estimated 10,000 nets that are lost by fishermen each year pose a particularly deadly threat. Animals are often trapped inside them and strangled. Each year, one million sea birds die as a result of the accumulation of marine waste. In the Bering Sea alone, around 40,000 seals die each year due to plastic.
Coral reefs, which are vital for marine life, are also affected. Solid waste that sinks to the ocean floor upsets the balance and can cause the coral to die. This trend has devastating consequences as the reefs act as a place of refuge and breeding grounds for many types of fish. We should all be aware that global marine litter has far-reaching consequences for ecosystems, biodiversity, the economy, food supply and human health. Because marine litter has spread across the entire globe, cleaning it up is impossible. This is also affected by the fact that 90% of the oceans' waste is less than one centimetre in size and is mainly found at greater depths or on the ocean floor. As a result, we would be unable to clean our oceans without disturbing (or even destroying) the marine ecosystem at the same time.
As well as severe damage to the environment, the financial consequences of this development are also immense. The UN's Environment Programme estimates that we will have to spend around EUR 13 billion per year to fight the effects of marine littering.
The types of damage vary greatly: Cooling water and filtering systems in thermal power plants and desalination plants require extensive cleaning. Contamination of coastlines and beaches also has a negative impact on tourism. Contaminated catches, in particular, are resulting in losses for the fishing industry. In developing countries and emerging economies, fishermen suffer from the effects, as contamination goes hand-in-hand with a sharp loss in income.
Get the oceans clean!
In mid-October 2018, KfW Group launched the Clean Oceans Initiative together with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the French Agence Française de Developpement (AFD). The partners have committed an initial amount of EUR 2 billion for reducing plastic pollution of the oceans.
Learn moreThe former German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks has called marine littering one of the greatest environmental problems of our age. At the G7 summit back in June 2015, participants signed up to the Action Plan to Combat Marine Litter.
The types of damage vary greatly: Cooling water and filtering systems in thermal power plants and desalination plants require extensive cleaning. Contamination of coastlines and beaches also has a negative impact on tourism. Contaminated catches, in particular, are resulting in losses for the fishing industry. In developing countries and emerging economies, fishermen suffer from the effects, as contamination goes hand-in-hand with a sharp loss in income.
A ten-point marine conservation plan drawn by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and presented by then Minister Gerd Müller in May 2016 includes the key task of preventing marine litter in the German development cooperation's partner countries. The plan sets out a range of measures, from protecting fish to creating a warning system for climate change. In its bid to combat littering, the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is relying especially on partnerships with the economy so that less waste can be produced in general and as little of this waste as possible can end up in the ocean.
A key element of this ten-point plan is the establishment of a special marine foundation, the Blue Action Fund. KfW provided EUR 24 million of start-up capital to the newly founded trust on behalf of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The non-profit trust is based in Frankfurt. It supports the marine conservation efforts of non-governmental organisations and, among other things, encourages the identification of new conservation areas as well as sustainable fishing and environmentally friendly tourism in the process. Around 12 projects amounting to at least EUR 19 million are due to be launched by 2019.
Its involvement with the Blue Action Fund complements KfW's profile. Protecting our coastlines and oceans is already a priority of its work. One example of its intensive partnerships is its work with Tunisia. On behalf of the German Federal Government, KfW Development Bank has been helping the Mediterranean country to develop environmentally sound waste management for the past 15 years. The activities are based on an important principle: To guarantee long-term protection of our coastlines and seas, political, economic and private bodies need to come together.
Published on KfW Stories: 17 March 2017, updated 11 January 2022.
The described project contributes to the following United Nationsʼ Sustainable Development Goals
Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources
Protecting biodiversity, using it sustainably and fairly sharing its benefits are important factors in sustainable development. About 30 per cent of the worldʼs fish stocks are overfished. In the European part of the Atlantic, this figure is 63 per cent; in the Mediterranean, it is already 82 per cent. Global warming and the acidification of the oceans also threaten peoplesʼ livelihoods. Each year around ten million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans. This does not degrade biologically, instead it disintegrates into smaller and smaller particles. Since marine animals mistake the plastic particles for food, these particles also end up in the human food chain.
All United Nations member states adopted the 2030 Agenda in 2015. At its heart is a list of 17 goals for sustainable development, known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our world should become a place where people are able to live in peace with each other in ways that are ecologically compatible, socially just, and economically effective.
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