Special Curated Sessions

Explore how innovative solutions and community engagement are crucial in shaping a sustainable future. Join Dr Angeliki Kosmopoulou (Story Strategist, “Storymentor”) and UK Ambassador Matthew Lodge (British Embassy Athens) in a fireside chat to reflect on how science, diplomacy and policymaking must work together to end plastic pollution.

A multiplicity of approaches and tools exists when it comes to plastic pollution, metrics, indicators , quantification methodologies and models.

Here we aim to create a dialogue among key actors addressing plastic pollution methods and assessments for policy actions that identify core principles for information collection and tools for addressing policy needs and that inform a future Plastics Treaty.

Through dialogues we can identify the gaps and actions that need to be taken to support the future development of indicators and targets that address plastic pollution which countries can consider in their planning.

Panel discussion — Open debate — Breakout workshop

Moderator: Dr Janaka DeSilva, IUCN, Switzerland

Dr Costas Velis — UNEP GPML Community of Practice on Plastic Pollution Quantification Methodologies and Models

Dr Karen Raubenheimer  — On the role of indicators

Dr Josh Cottom — On the role of PLAST Toolkit

Dr Margherita Pucino — Global Plastic Action Partnership

Join this special curated session to understand and get basic training on how to use the SPOT model to develop a plastic pollution emissions inventory at a national level, using local data. SPOT, is a novel methodology and model that allows to link sources of plastic pollution and calculate how much of the plastic waste items become pollution in the environment and where. It offers unique capabilities of integrating local to national level. Developed at the University of Leeds, and published in Nature, the SPOT model is freely available to use, and Dr Costas Velis research team can provide technical support.

This session will consider the applicability of different plastic pollution assessment tools and models for the purpose of implementing the Plastics Treaty. It focusses both on decision makers and on experts and consultants that may apply plastic assessment tools.