Around 60 environmental and scientific experts kicked off the Plogging Congress at Barcelona’s Port Olímpic on Friday, tackling the city’s coastal pollution crisis head-on. It’s the first time the event has landed in the Catalan capital, focusing specifically on Barcelona’s coastline and the Mediterranean’s mounting pollution problems. The congress, backed by municipal company BSM and the Climent Guitart Foundation, brought together scientists, sustainability professionals, businesses and organisations to examine the coast’s fragile state and climate change’s impact on the sea.
“The Mediterranean is warming twice as fast as the global average”, warned Míriam Plaza, BSM’s deputy director general for strategy and transformation. “This isn’t just about talking sustainability – it’s about understanding that our future depends on the water around us.” Zoo Barcelona director Antoni Alarcón joined the discussion, stressing that only a global transformation involving government, business, science and citizens can tackle the marine climate crisis in time.
Alarcón highlighted the success of artificial reefs submerged at Port Olímpic’s Dic de Recer breakwater. After being naturalised, they’ve helped recover over 120 marine species in less than a year. Meanwhile, David Serrano, BSM’s corporate ESG director, pushed for urgent habit changes to cut plastic waste flowing into the sea. “Every minute, we dump the equivalent of a lorry-load of plastic into the ocean worldwide – that’s eight million tonnes yearly”, he explained. “Through the fish we eat, we’re ingesting plastic equivalent to a credit card every week.”
The congress continues Saturday with a public clean-up event from 10am to noon at Nova Icària beach. Volunteers will tackle sand, water surface and seabed pollution. Alongside general participants, the Barcelona Diving Club, Municipal Sailing Centre, Mossos d’Esquadra sports club and Barcelona Fire Brigade’s underwater activities section will all join in.
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