'shout out loud - stop the flood pf plastics ' - strengthen the voice of youth
Ocean. Now!
(
Non-governmental organization (NGO)
)
#OceanAction58142
Description
Every year, over 12 million tonnes of plastic flood into our oceans—an amount projected to triple by 2040. This silent crisis threatens marine life, ecosystems, and future generations. But what if the loudest voices for change came from the youngest among us?
"shout out loud – stop the flood of plastics" is a creative and empowering initiative by Ocean. Now! that brings children and youth to the forefront of the global conversation on plastic pollution. The campaign uses a mix of science, somatic experience, and conceptual art to connect emotionally and intellectually with participants and audiences alike.
One of the project’s pillars is a two-day children’s workshop held on the island of Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea. Participants, aged 8 to 17, engage with the topic of plastic pollution through photography and body-focused exercises. The children create powerful photographic portraits that include handwritten messages to world leaders—capturing raw emotion and urgent calls for action. These portraits form a mobile exhibition, giving youth a visual platform to speak out for the ocean. In 2025, Ocean. Now! will continue extending the portrait series with strong pictures from children in Berlin, Germany and Accra, Ghana.
In 2025, the project will be presented for the first time at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France. Here, the voice of the children will be amplified through an interactive event titled “shout out loud – a role playing game on plastic pollution.” Open to all, this 45-minute session invites youth, civil society, and conference attendees to embody different stakeholders: nature and the ocean, politics and government, and industry and manufacturers. Through role play, participants explore the plastic crisis from multiple perspectives—challenging one another and co-creating realistic solutions.
Set against the backdrop of the children’s portrait exhibition, the role-playing event underscores a powerful message: we are part of nature, not separate from it. As participants embody the ocean’s voice, they plead, provoke, and push for change from industry and politics. The dialogue is designed to move beyond blame - each exchange ends with a tangible solution, however small, illustrating that progress is possible when we listen and collaborate.
This event doesn't just raise awareness - it activates it. It transforms young observers into change agents and invites decision-makers to hear, see, and feel the urgency of the plastic crisis through young eyes and voices.
By combining art, education, and activism, “shout out loud” is building a global wave of youth empowerment—one that can’t be ignored. Because if we want to save our ocean, we must start by listening to those who will inherit it.
Let’s shout out loud. Together.
Ocean. Now! collaborates with schools and youth institutions in Europe and beyond. It started the program "shout out loud" in August 2024 in collaboration with Jugendcafe Fehmarn (name: Oliver Gende, Entity type: Civil society organisation, location: Fehmarn, Germany). More partners will be joining in August 2025 (name: Ulla Deventer, Entity type: a social worker, location: Accra, Ghana) and September 2025 (name: Claudia Benter, S27, Entity type: Civil society organisation, location: Berlin, Germany). The program is supported by Sony Germany (name: Yeliz Alpsan / Sony Germany,, Entity type: Private Sector, Location: Berlin, Germany).
SDGS & Targets
Goal 12
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

12.1
Implement the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, all countries taking action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries
12.1.1
Number of countries developing, adopting or implementing policy instruments aimed at supporting the shift to sustainable consumption and production
12.2
By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources
12.2.1
Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP
12.2.2
Domestic material consumption, domestic material consumption per capita, and domestic material consumption per GDP
12.3
By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses
12.3.1
(a) Food loss index and (b) food waste index
12.4
By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment
12.4.1
12.4.2
(a) Hazardous waste generated per capita; and (b) proportion of hazardous waste treated, by type of treatment
12.5
By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse
12.5.1
National recycling rate, tons of material recycled
12.6
Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle
12.6.1
12.7
Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities
12.7.1
Number of countries implementing sustainable public procurement policies and action plans
12.8
By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature
12.8.1
Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment
12.a
Support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production
12.a.1
Installed renewable energy-generating capacity in developing and developed countries (in watts per capita)
12.b
Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products
12.b.1
Implementation of standard accounting tools to monitor the economic and environmental aspects of tourism sustainability
12.c
Rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by removing market distortions, in accordance with national circumstances, including by restructuring taxation and phasing out those harmful subsidies, where they exist, to reflect their environmental impacts, taking fully into account the specific needs and conditions of developing countries and minimizing the possible adverse impacts on their development in a manner that protects the poor and the affected communities
12.c.1
Amount of fossil-fuel subsidies (production and consumption) per unit of GDP
Goal 13
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

13.1
Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
13.1.1
Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
13.1.2
Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030
13.1.3
Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
13.2
Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning
13.2.1
Number of countries with nationally determined contributions, long-term strategies, national adaptation plans and adaptation communications, as reported to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
13.2.2
Total greenhouse gas emissions per year
13.3
Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
13.3.1
Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment
13.a
Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible
13.a.1
Amounts provided and mobilized in United States dollars per year in relation to the continued existing collective mobilization goal of the $100 billion commitment through to 2025
13.b
Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities
13.b.1
Number of least developed countries and small island developing States with nationally determined contributions, long-term strategies, national adaptation plans and adaptation communications, as reported to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Goal 14
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

14.1
By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution
14.1.1
(a) Index of coastal eutrophication; and (b) plastic debris density
14.2
By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans
14.2.1
Number of countries using ecosystem-based approaches to managing marine areas
14.3
Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification, including through enhanced scientific cooperation at all levels
14.3.1
14.4
By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics
14.4.1
14.5
By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information
14.5.1
14.6
By 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and refrain from introducing new such subsidies, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the World Trade Organization fisheries subsidies negotiation
14.6.1
Degree of implementation of international instruments aiming to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
14.7
By 2030, increase the economic benefits to Small Island developing States and least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism
14.7.1
Sustainable fisheries as a proportion of GDP in small island developing States, least developed countries and all countries
14.a
Increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacity and transfer marine technology, taking into account the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Criteria and Guidelines on the Transfer of Marine Technology, in order to improve ocean health and to enhance the contribution of marine biodiversity to the development of developing countries, in particular small island developing States and least developed countries
14.a.1
14.b
Provide access for small-scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets
14.b.1
Degree of application of a legal/regulatory/policy/institutional framework which recognizes and protects access rights for small‐scale fisheries
14.c
Enhance the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources by implementing international law as reflected in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which provides the legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources, as recalled in paragraph 158 of "The future we want"
14.c.1
Number of countries making progress in ratifying, accepting and implementing through legal, policy and institutional frameworks, ocean-related instruments that implement international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and their resources
SDG 14 targets covered
Name | Description |
---|---|
14.1 | By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution |
Deliverables & Timeline
Resources mobilized
Partnership Progress

Feedback
Action Network

Timeline
Entity
Other beneficiaries
Ocean Basins
Communities of Ocean Action
More information
Countries



Headquarters
Contact Information
Meike, Founder, Executive Director