University of Plymouth side event at INC-4

Professor Richard Thompson OBE FRS is Professor of Marine Biology and Director of the Marine Institute at the University of Plymouth.

Richard is a world-leading marine scientist and is at the forefront of pioneering research into the causes and effects of marine litter. A decade-and-a-half on from his seminal paper, which for the first time described the accumulation of ‘microplastics’ in the oceans, he has mapped out much of the territory upon which our understanding of both the impacts of plastics and the potential solutions are based. He founded and heads the University’s International Marine Litter Research Unit, which has charted the global distribution of microplastics from Arctic sea ice to the deep seas.

In 2019, the University was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for the pioneering research of Richard and his colleagues on marine microplastics pollution and its impact on the environment and changing behaviour.

In 2023 Richard was awarded the Blue Planet Prize and in 2022 the Volvo Environment Prize for raising societal awareness of global ocean microplastics.

Henrique Pacini is an economist at UNCTAD in Geneva, working on trade & circular economy. He contributes to the GBP 24.6 million UK-Aid funded Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution (SMEP) program since 2018, focusing on reducing manufacturing and plastic pollution in Africa, South Asia, and the Pacific. He has degrees from University of Sao Paulo, Hochschule Bremen, and KTH, and a post-doc on plastic scrap trade from Harvard, where he co-chaired the University’s first Circular Economy Symposium. Pacini has authored over 30 peer-reviewed articles on environment, trade, and development.

Isabel Jarrett leads Pew’s work to reduce plastic pollution through international trade measures and efforts to advance legislation to curb microplastic emissions in the EU.

Jarrett previously led Pew’s campaign to reduce harmful fisheries subsidies, working in collaboration with the World Trade Organization to reduce the billions of dollars in government payments that contribute to unsustainable fishing. She also launched Pew’s global shark conservation efforts in Asia; contributed to implementing landmark measures governing international trade in sharks and rays at international forums; and was an associate manager on the executive team that executes Pew’s projects and advances the institution’s mission.

FAO is both developing a Voluntary Code of Conduct for the sustainable use and management of plastics in agriculture and actively supporting ILBI negotiations to ensure that food security, as well as food and agriculture perspectives, are accounted for in the future treaty. We advocate for the use of a circular approach to the sustainable management of plastics in agriculture. Therefore, issues related to bio-based alternatives and substitutes for "traditional" plastic products are crucial to these efforts. To FAO, sustainability domain includes four aspects of food security and nutrition: better and more efficient production, improved nutrition, a healthier environment, and enhanced livelihoods, all while respecting the needs of the most vulnerable in the agri-food value chain.

Dr Neretin will be sharing his perspective on biodegradable plastics in agriculture and fisheries.

Jane is the Managing Director and Chief Scientific Officer of the Food Packaging Forum (FPF), a charitable foundation based in Zurich, Switzerland. She founded FPF in 2012 to share high-quality scientific information about health and environmental impacts of food contact materials, such as food packaging. In 2024, FPF has grown to a team of 8 scientists who, with diverse external partners and collaborators, have developed several impactful, publicly available, evidence-based tools, for example the Understanding Packaging Scorecard or the Database on extractable and migrating food contact chemicals, FCCmigex. Jane is also part of the PlastChem project team and a member of the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty. Jane has a PhD in environmental toxicology and an MSc in environmental science, both from ETH Zurich.

Winnie is an environmental scientist, whose research focuses on understanding the environmental fate and prevalence of conventional and biodegradable plastics, their effect on organisms and ecosystems, to provide appropriate science-led interventions.

Since completing her PhD in 2019 (Microplastics in the deep sea ecosystem), Winnie has worked within the International Marine Litter Research Unit, at the University of Plymouth, first as 'eXXpedition science lead' researching microplastic pollution in the ocean globally (2019-2021) and now on the NERC-funded 'BIO PLASTIC RISK ' project. Here Winnie investigates the environmental fate of biodegradable plastics and their associated impacts on organisms and ecosystem function.
Her scientific studies have led her to research plastic pollution in a variety of terrestrial and marine environments, from the coastline to some of the most remote parts of our planet including the deep sea and oceanic gyres.

Winnie has authored a number of publications and technical reports, has spoken at International conferences and at UK and European Parliament. Additionally she has extensive and varied science outreach-communication experience, giving interviews in multiple formats including TV, radio and print, recording podcasts, as well as participating in numerous events