Dundee Breakfast Briefing

This morning, Tuesday 31 January, we hosted a breakfast briefing alongside Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce for businesses across Dundee, to encourage engagement with our award-winning campaign, Upstream Battle. It was attended by a wide range of partners and speakers including Marine Scotland, Crown Estate Scotland and Dundee City Council.

Blue Planet 2, which aired in 2018, helped raise public awareness to the increasing amount of litter and plastic in our oceans. With 80% of marine litter coming from land, which has been carelessly discarded, it is important that we find solutions to prevent this issue before it washes into gutters and blows into streams. The same year, we launched Upstream Battle on the Clyde. The campaign aims to raise awareness and gather evidence, inspiring action to tackle marine litter from #Source2Sea.  The campaign contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water.

In August 2021 we launched Upstream Battle on the Tay. To focus on developing innovative approaches to tackling this vital environmental challenge, the campaign has successfully brought together a diverse range of stakeholders from the public and private sectors, alongside communities along the River Tay and its tributaries.

Barry Fisher, our Chief Executive Officer, said:

“It was fantastic to see so many businesses and organisations represented this morning at our event.  A common message from all of our speakers was that no one organisation or sector can tackle this enormous problem, and collaboration across all sectors is key. Our briefing for businesses was aimed at supporting them to make a difference in their communities.

We want to encourage all businesses from across Tayside, whether close to the River Tay or a tributary, to get involved to help us tackle marine litter from source to sea. Whether it’s through sharing out messages to audiences or colleagues, supporting a local community group or helping us litter pick and survey everyone and get involved.  If you’re a business and would like to hear more about how you can support the campaign get in touch with one of the team.”

Many thanks to Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce who facilitated the event by providing the space and refreshments.

If you'd like to get involved, check out our Upstream Battle webpage for more information.

We are calling for people across Scotland to help tackle Scotland’s Litter Emergency by taking part in Scotland’s Spring Clean 2023 from 17 of March to the 17 of April. Learn more and sign up to join in here.