Collective Effort in South-East Asia to End Plastic Pollution

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Background

Recognizing the devastating and irreversible impact of plastic pollution on ecosystems, the climate, and livelihoods, a long-term inclusive solution to address plastic pollution requires strengthening international coordination, cooperation, and governance. This has been clearly outlined in the 5th UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) resolution’s outcome to forge an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution.

In the South-East Asian region, the momentum to end plastic pollution has picked up despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. 175 nations voted unanimously for a legally binding instrument by 2024 to end plastic pollution during the UNEA 5.2 in March 2022. Nevertheless, a lot more must be done through collective initiatives in addition to the government efforts. This includes stepping up on activities, and adopting voluntary measures to combat plastic pollution, shifting to sustainable consumption and production, circular economy approaches, developing and implementing national action plans, and improving statistical information on the environmentally sound management of plastic waste.

An ambitious global agreement will not be possible without the participation and commitment of the government, private sector, and consumers. To gain better insights on plastic pollution from different stakeholders, the SEA circular project of UNEP has commissioned surveys in 2020 and 2022 to understand the perception of businesses and consumers on plastics and policies for circularity in South-East Asia.

The survey was conducted to assess the level of understanding of plastic pollution issues in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam, countries that have showcased accelerated efforts to tackle marine litter pollution in the region. The study sought to understand business and consumer attitudes towards plastic waste, and how they are currently tackling plastic waste issues as well as provide perspectives on how to best tackle these challenges collectively in a holistic manner involving different stakeholders.

About the event

In this virtual side event, we wish to hold a dialogue – a panel discussion, focusing on the theme – Addressing marine pollution, among the member states, intergovernmental organizations, regional platforms, think tanks, and private sector representatives on their continued collective efforts to tackle marine litter pollution, as well as to share the knowledge and findings of the survey.

Objectives

• To bring together stakeholders from the government, the private sector, and consumers representative to collectively address plastic pollution in the Southeast Asia region and encourage collaborative partnerships to end plastic pollution in the region
• To discuss the way forward toward the Global Plastic Agreement and prepare for the intergovernmental negotiations
• To share knowledge of existing initiatives through strategic partnerships on addressing marine plastic pollution in the South-East Asian region
• To share results of the plastic perception survey commissioned by UNEP’s SEA circular project, to gain insights into the perception of consumers and businesses towards plastics, their usage, and efforts to achieve circularity