Project Overview
The GEF LAC Cities project will facilitate circular actions at the city level to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, in line with government and business commitments on addressing marine plastics and plastic pollution.
Project Objectives
- Support city authorities to set up regulatory frameworks and test key policy instruments to provide enabling conditions for developing a more circular plastic economy;
- Address the lack of business innovation in target LAC cities, by stimulating circular design on products, service, business models, and collection and recycling systems, with value chain cooperation;
- Tackle the lack of a common vision, approaches, and leadership for LAC cities by setting up an inter-city network to align regional strategy and actions to stimulate cities to cooperate at the regional level;
- Develop various knowledge products, capacity-building activities, and monitoring schemes, to enable stakeholders to adopt best practices in more LAC cities.
Donor/Funding Agency
- The Global Environment Fund - GEF
Implementing Agency
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Executing Agency
- UNEP Cartagena Convention Secretariat
Project Duration
- 2022-2026 (4 years)
Funding
- GEF - USD 7,000,000
- Co-financing - USD 35,407,240
Project Location/Communities of Focus
The project will be implemented in the following 6 cities with impacts on the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific: Cartagena (Colombia), Barranquilla (Colombia), Kingston (Jamaica), Montego Bay (Jamaica), Panama City (Panama), and Colón (Panama).
Marine litter within the three countries is adversely affecting the coastal waters and impacting key sectors from tourism to fisheries. Insufficient waste management capacities and practices affect millions of inhabitants whose livelihoods are based on fragile coastal marine areas. Furthermore, there is a larger context of excessive waste generation, knowledge gaps, and ineffective/absent policy and regulatory frameworks.
Expected Outcomes
- Circular economy policies adopted or improved by city-level governments to reduce marine plastics and plastic pollution;
- Circular economy innovations and practices adopted by the private sector to reduce marine plastics and plastic pollution;
- Increased cooperation and enhanced implementation of circular economy approaches among LAC cities through the LAC Inter-city Network on marine plastics and plastic circular economy;
- Improved regional and global awareness, and knowledge and capacity applied to reduce marine plastics and plastic pollution.
Beneficiary Countries
- Government of Colombia, Government of Panama, Government of Jamaica
*Project implementation will be supported in each of the countries and at the regional level by various industry partners, civil society organizations and academic and research institutes.
Sustainable Development Goals aligned with the project
- Goal 6, 11, 12, 14 and Goal 17
Contact Information
Christopher Corbin
Coordinator
United Nations Environment Programme Cartagena Convention Secretariat
14-20 Port Royal Street, Kingston, Jamaica
Tel.: 1 (876) 922-9267-9
Email: christopher.corbin@un.org; unep-cartagenaconvention@un.org
Facebook: @UNEPCartagenaConvention
Instagram and Twitter: UNEP_CEP
YouTube: CEPUNEP LinkedIn: UNEP Caribbean Environment Programme and Cartagena Convention Secretariat
