A 5-year ocean partnership: understanding ocean plastics!
It is time to put our focus on our oceans. Over 300 million tonnes of plastic waste is produced each year and 10 million tonnes of this enters our ocean.
Beyondly and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) are excited to announce their long-term 5-year partnership, committed to leading a citizen science data collection project, to help advance our understanding of global ocean plastics pollution. Together, we are committed to Go Beyond and Go Deeper.
Beyondly is a B Corp certified environmental compliance scheme and consultancy, based in North Yorkshire. Beyondly has supported NOC’s research for two years, contributing funding to support their work in gaining a deeper understanding of the ocean. This partnership began as part of Beyondly’s Fund for Change initiative, a commitment to donating 5% of profits to charitable causes. Since 2023, Beyondly has donated over £50k to NOC’s work across blue carbon & ocean plastics.
In 2025, Beyondly and NOC will take their partnership to the next level, committing to a 5-year partnership which builds on their previous ocean plastics work, enabling a group of ocean lovers – yacht owners – to collect vital water samples across the globe, which will be analysed by NOC’s leading plastic team. This research will provide a global picture of the impact of plastic on our oceans, contributing to NOC’s Ocean Decade goals, an initiative to support the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goal – 14 Life Below Water.
In 2024, round-the-world sailor and yacht race winner Mike Golding and his family took part in the pilot year of this citizen science project. Engaging families like Mike’s in scientific research helps to grow awareness of the need for ocean science and provides needed data to inform government and industry legislation around plastic production and waste. Seeing the success of this project in just one year led us to explore what a global project could look like and the scale of impact this project could have if it spanned 5 years.
“We are delighted to continue our partnership with Beyondly which will further our understanding of the impact of plastics on the ocean and the life within it. Despite covering over 70% of our planet, the ocean currently receives only 1% of global philanthropy, and SDG14 ‘Life Below Water’ is the least funded of all SDG goals. The ocean is seriously underrepresented so it is wonderful to see organisations like Beyondly including ocean health in their ESG goals and demonstrating the impact that philanthropy can have in advancing our understanding of key ocean issues.” – Holly Evans, NOC Head of Philanthropy
"We are very excited to share that our partnership with NOC will continue further and supporting the vital work that NOC do on understanding the true impact of plastics on the ocean. Through our Fund for Change Programme we can support remarkable organisations like NOC. This commitment aligns with Beyondly’s broader company goals and presents opportunities for achieving a more significant and sustained impact within the environmental landscape over a longer period of time. We are looking forward to working with NOC and Seakeepers and excited to see the progress and impact." - Mel Harper, Brand and Impact Manager
What is next
Beyondly are excited to bring you along on this 5-year project, building awareness of the impact plastic is having on our oceans and forming a community of those who are passionate about giving the ocean a voice when it comes to addressing environmental issues.
Beyondly will work closely with NOC & Seakeepers to provide quarterly updates on this project, eventually mapping out the locations covered and how the findings will feed into NOC’s Ocean Decade goals.
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