World Environment Day 2025: Join Us to Beat Plastic Pollution!
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is thrilled to partner once again with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) North America and the University of Toronto Trash Team (U of T Trash Team) to celebrate World Environment Day (WED) 2025!
This year’s theme—“Ending global plastic pollution”—calls for collective action to address the urgent issue of plastic pollution, ahead of the upcoming Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee session (INC-5.2) towards a global plastics treaty. Plastic waste is widespread, impacting everything from the deepest oceans to the food on our plates. In 2025 alone, the world is expected to consume 516 million tons of plastic, a significant portion of which will become waste. But we can do something about it! This year's celebration aims to unite everyone: individuals, communities, industries and governments, in promoting sustainable practices and adopting circular economy approaches for plastics as a way forward.
Toronto Takes the Lead with the University of Toronto Trash Team
As the official North American host city for World Environment Day, Toronto will showcase innovative local solutions and community-driven initiatives focused on reducing plastic waste, such as the work of the CEC’s collaborator, the U of T Trash Team.
In 2023, the U of T Trash Team installed litter traps at three locations in the Harbourfront. These trash capture devices intercepted tens of kilograms of floating litter, preventing it from flowing farther downstream. The litter collected was then categorized to better understand the types of litter prevalent in our waterways and how best to reduce it. Take a look at what they found!
Collaborating with the CEC, the U of T Trash Team has also been raising public awareness in downtown Toronto by encouraging millions of Torontonians and visitors to take action against marine litter, thanks to a display of the CEC's Last Stop: The Ocean (LSTO) campaign on bus shelters and metro shuttles.
Are you celebrating #WorldEnvironmentDay in Toronto? Keep an eye out for the Last Stop: The Ocean campaign around the city!
The Last Stop: The Ocean Campaign, a Trinational Effort
As part of the CEC “Reduction of Marine Litter” project, the Last Stop: The Ocean campaign was created to prevent and reduce land-based marine litter by using engagement and communication tools to raise awareness about the presence and effects of marine litter in selected inland communities along waterways in North America.
By collecting information on the amount and type of waste found in the waterways, bringing attention to local sources of litter captured in deployed trash traps, and sharing this information in open meetings, communities in Canada, Mexico and the United States were supported in developing local action plans for land-based marine litter reduction.
Get Involved
Are you ready to make a difference? Download the Last Stop: The Ocean toolkit and our complimentary community mobilization and organizing toolkit to help turn your ideas into action. These materials are for you to join the call to increase local actions and together #BeatPlasticPollution.
We’re excited to see how you will use these toolkits in your community, so don’t forget to share your experiences and tag us on social media!
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About the CEC
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) was established in 1994 by the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States through the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, a parallel environmental agreement to NAFTA. As of 2020, the CEC is recognized and maintained by the Environmental Cooperation Agreement, in parallel with the new Free Trade Agreement of North America. The CEC brings together a wide range of stakeholders, including the general public, Indigenous people, youth, nongovernmental organizations, academia, and the business sector, to seek solutions to protect North America’s shared environment while supporting sustainable development for the benefit of present and future generations
The CEC is governed and funded equally by the Government of Canada through Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Government of the United States of Mexico through the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, and the Government of the United States of America through the Environmental Protection Agency.