This year’s World Environment Day on 5 June saw the launch of the Community Action for Fresh Water platform, which is bringing together and encouraging thousands of communities to protect and restore local water bodies worldwide, including from plastic pollution.
Led by Rotary International with technical guidance from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the platform will serve as a global hub for sharing, monitoring and promoting community-led freshwater protection efforts. It will enable users to discover and track local projects, train citizen scientists, collect data and help close data gaps related to freshwater pollution and ecosystem health.
The platform will also store practical resources, including guidance materials and case studies, to support replicating successful initiatives across different regions. A webinar on 5 June, aligned with the 2025 World Environment Day theme to end the plastic pollution crisis, focused on how Rotary clubs are tackling plastic pollution in freshwater bodies.
Plastic pollution is a growing global crisis that affects nearly every water body, from remote mountain springs to the deepest parts of the ocean. It threatens ecosystems and human health. Effective prevention of plastic pollution requires reliable data to inform decisions and actions at all levels, from local communities to global institutions.
The Community Action for Fresh Water initiative builds on Rotary’s longstanding commitment to river clean-ups, and environmental protection and restoration. The initiative recently became an official partner of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The partnership will amplify restoration efforts by Rotary’s 1.3 million members and 45,000 local clubs who are working together with local businesses. It will also connect these local efforts to other UN Decade partners, expanding the impact of sustainably managing freshwater resources and ecosystems.
“Understanding plastic pollution through the lens of the water cycle – the continuous movement of water through and across the atmosphere, land, plants, rivers and seas – provides a powerful framework for targeted action,” says Sinikinesh Beyene Jimma, Head of UNEP’s Marine and Freshwater Branch.
UNEP plays a leading role in several initiatives that advance data and methodologies related to monitoring water quality and pollution, especially in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Its initiatives include the Global Wastewater Initiative, the Global Plastics Hub (of the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter), the Global Environment Monitoring System for Freshwater, the Freshwater Ecosystems Explorer and the World Water Quality Alliance. These tools focus on promoting data-sharing and support informed decision-making.
A key objective of Community Action for Fresh Water is to close data gaps including for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that UNEP helps to monitor, such as SDG 6.3.2 (which measures ambient water quality) and SDG 14.1.1 (on reducing marine pollution). Strengthening data collection and analysis will help countries develop public-private partnerships and attract investments to manage water resources more sustainably and protect freshwater ecosystems.
Stakeholders can engage with tools such as the Community Action for Fresh Water to encourage local data gathering, integrate water quality information into local planning, inspire action and build capacity for action. As Beyene Jimma explains, expanding access to reliable data and tools empowers communities to influence policy, improve river basin management, and protect coastal and marine ecosystems.
“By recognizing the interconnectedness of the planet’s water system and harnessing the power of diverse partnerships, we can turn the tide on plastic pollution – one river, one community and one drop of water at a time,” Beyene Jimma says.
UNEP's work is made possible by flexible contributions from Member States and other partners to the Environment Fund and UNEP Climate, Nature and Pollution funds. These funds enable agile, innovative solutions to climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. Learn how to support UNEP to invest in people and planet.
