Costa Rica has signed on as an official member of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI). Costa Rica joins 22 other national governments as a member of the GGGI and is the fourth Latin American country to join the initiative.

Trinidad and Tobago has signed on as an official member of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI). Trinidad and Tobago joins 21 other national governments as a member of the initiative and is the second Caribbean island nation member alongside Montserrat.

During the third round of International Legally Binding Instrument on plastic pollution (ILBI) negotiations, commonly referred to as the Plastics Treaty, Dr. Axel Borchmann, Germany’s Deputy Head of Division for the Ministry of the Environment, announced that Germany has joined the GGGI. Germany also announced that it would be committing 100,000 euros annually to the GGGI.

The 2023 Joanna Toole Solutions Award recipients have been announced! Historically, there has only been one winner selected each year but, this year, with generous funding from the Joanna Toole Foundation and the government of Norway, for the first time, the Global Ghost Gear Initiative is funding three separate organizations for the 2023 Joanna Toole Awards. This year’s winners are Ocean Legacy Foundation, Surfrider Foundation Kaua’i Chapter, and Tangaroa Blue Foundation.