Catalysing Local and National Action on Plastic Pollution to Achieve Regional Priorities and Global Goals in South-East and East Asia

Side Event: 10th Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development

29 March 2023, 17:15-18:30 GMT+7 (Bangkok time)
Meeting Room A, 1st floor, United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand

Organizers
The Government of Republic of Korea, Secretariats of the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) and the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) [administered by United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP]

Co-organizers
United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Background
Amid global challenges of transboundary plastic pollution, strengthening regional coordination is key to catalysing action at local and national levels, toward regional priorities and global goals such as the SDGs and an international instrument on plastic pollution. Countries can leverage existing Regional Seas mechanisms and support from development partners such as UNEP and UN-Habitat to build capacity, facilitate peer learning, and collect robust evidence and comparable data to track progress against national, regional, and global frameworks.

This event explores demonstrated solutions from city to regional level, showcases good practices to effectively address plastic waste and pollution, and introduces mechanisms for knowledge sharing, harmonized data collection efforts to achieve common goals including SDG 11 and 17. The event fosters partnerships and coordination in the region on the transboundary challenge of plastic pollution and marine litter.

The event will share perspectives from cities and communities, national government, academia, businesses, and Regional Seas.

Key Questions and Outcomes
This side event will examine the following key guiding questions:

1. How can countries and stakeholders in the region effectively leverage existing regional mechanisms of Regional Seas programmes to achieve and track progress on global goals and transboundary challenges in the Asia-Pacific?
2. Are there emerging global, regional and national issues that would soon require robust waste management data, e.g. waste diversion through extended producer responsibility, reduction of plastic leaking into the world’s oceans, etc?
3. What are examples of plastic circularity and waste management approaches that are suitable to highly urbanized and secondary cities or urban communities?

Bringing together a diverse panel, this side event will showcase achievements of regional partnerships in addressing marine plastic pollution and share good practices, lesson learned and efforts to address waste management, plastic-free rivers, resource-efficient cities and marine litter free oceans. In doing so, it aims to strengthen and harmonize approaches to monitor the sources, flows and impacts of plastic pollution and waste leakage from cities and countries in the region for evidence-based action at local, national, regional and global level. The session will help strengthen partnerships and knowledge sharing to regionalize global commitments and contribute to shaping international processes, including through Regional Nodes of the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter (GPML).

Moderators

• Natalie Harms, Secretariat of the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), UN Environment Programme
• Yzabela Bernardina Habunal, Healthy Oceans and Clean Cities Initative, UN-Habitat Philippines

Speakers

• Jong-Joo Yoon, Chungnam Institute, The ROK
• Naveed Anwar, Vice President Knowledge Management, Asian Institute for Technology (AIT)
• Elvisa Mabelin, Cagayan de Oro City
• Elizabeth Abogado, Calapan City
• Linno Benju Calleja, Legazpi City
• Kayle Nicole Amurao, City of Manila
• Ingrid Macabare, Ormoc City