The document to be approved by the Heads of States at Rio+20 brings the target to reduce marine debris, especially plastics, by 2025. Although it was already on the agenda, after a referendum with the Internet users, the committee identified the fight against this form of pollution as a priority for the conservation of the marine environment.

President Roussef underlined, in her speech, the socio-economic importance of the oceans and stressed the need to preserve and to use sustainably the marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdictions. These resources have great economic potential for some industries, including pharmaceuticals.

The document establishes the deadline of 2014 for the UN’s General Assembly to decide on the development of an international instrument to implement the UN’s Convention on the Law of the Sea in those resources.

The document was already informally agreed upon, but after the online voting – the largest in the civil network - the paragraph became even more important and the committee highlighted plastic as a particular concern. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, discovered in 1997 by Charles Moore, is one of the main icons of the degradation caused by plastic in the oceans.