Our mission

Understanding and combating
marine pollution

Because a healthy ocean is essential to global balance, it is becoming urgent to find scientific solutions to understand the changes it is facing and to halt the decline that threatens our planet’s largest ecosystem.

United Nations Decade logo

2021-2030: the global decade of oceans

In 2021, the United Nations proclaimed the Decade of Oceans and invited the global ocean community to develop roadmaps and scientific and technological actions for the next ten years around ten major challenges.

10 years, 10 challenges to contribute to the ocean we need for the future we want!

The many facets of marine pollution

Ocean pollution takes many forms. It is linked to wastewater, offshore activities, oil, various chemicals carried by rivers and the air, deposits or discharges of dredging sludge and, to a large extent, plastic.

This waste comes in many different forms and sizes. The most common types are single-use plastics (cigarette butts, plastic bags, cotton buds, plastic packaging, plastic pellets), followed by waste from fishing equipment.

single-use plastic
0 %
other plastics
0 %
from fishing activities
0 %
others
0 %

55% of ocean pollution is linked to plastic waste.

KRESK 4 OCEANS takes on first challenge:
understanding and combating marine pollution

KRESK 4 OCEANS targets Challenge No. 1 of the Decade of Oceans, which is to ‘understand and map land-based and sea-based sources of pollutants and contaminants and their potential impacts on human health and ocean ecosystems, and develop solutions to eliminate or mitigate them’.

This is a challenge that KRESK 4 OCEANS wishes to take on by contributing to the development of sustainable solutions that are environmentally friendly and economically viable.

Multiple impacts on biodiversity

Impacts on the climate, particularly related to CO2 emissions during production, on the economy (only 5% of the value of plastic containers remains in the economy) and, above all, on marine biodiversity and ultimately on human health.

Macro-waste injures or hinders marine animals.

Plastic disperses toxic substances. As it decomposes, it releases toxic additives present in its composition or pollutants that it has absorbed in water.

Pollution degrades marine habitats.

Waste transports invasive species, enabling them to spread over much greater distances than normal.

Animals swallow plastic or microplastics, which eventually accumulate in their organs and tissues.

Humans eat marine animals and therefore plastic.

Discover our areas of action to tackle this pollution:

#1 Action

Act
on Land

#2 Action

Research
at Sea

#3 Action

Raise Citizen
Awareness