Policymakers, scientists, officers from international and non-governmental organizations gathered virtually on December 2, 2020 to discuss how to improve the regional cooperation in the prevention, monitoring and removal of marine litter in the Northwest Pacific Region.
The Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) - Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting among China, Japan, and Korea (TEMM) Joint Workshop on Marine Litter Management was organized by the NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU). In the morning session, the NOWPAP Marine Litter Focal Points presented country reports on policy changes, investment, new approaches related to the implementation of the NOWPAP Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter.
Dr. Daria ZADOIA, Associated professor of the Maritime State University, named after admiral G.I. Nevelskoy introduced that the waste management system in the Russian Far East had been improved drastically. Thirteen illegal dumps were closed in 2020. A regional operator on waste management began its activity in full swing on 1 January 2020.
Dr. Ruizhi LIU from the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences introduced that as of the end of 2019, the harmless treatment rate of urban domestic garbage nationwide has reached 99%. China's coastal cities have all established garbage classification and "marine sanitation" mechanisms, and actively carry out beach cleanup activities.
Mr. Tatsuya ABE from the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, highlighted the outcomes of the G20 Workshop on Harmonized Monitoring and Data Compilation and Osaka blue Ocean Vision in his presentation.
Mr. Hong Keun-Hyung from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), Republic of Korea, introduced that “The Marine Waste Management Act" would be put into effect on 4 December 2020. The Act promotes the accountability of polluters, and the recycling of marine litter in an environmentally friendly way. The Act will help prevent the inflow of marine litter into the ocean as well.
The afternoon session of the workshop focused on the updates of global and regional approaches and opportunities to address marine litter. Ms. Natalie HARMS from the United Nations Environment Programme (COBSEA) introduced the marine litter activities of the East Asian countries in 2021 including hotspot assessments, harmonized marine litter monitoring, the working group on marine litter meetings, coherent policies and planning, and the establishment of a Regional Node of the Global Partnerships on Marine Litter.
Ms. Marina Sakai from the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat introduced the following eight priority areas for a joint action plan for 2020-2024: air quality improvement, biodiversity, circular economy/zero-waste city, chemical management, environmental emergency response, marine and water environment management.
Ms. Sunwook Hong from Our Sea of Asian Network (OSEAN) proposed to organize a meeting of the Civil Forum on Marine Litter in 2021, collect cases of marine litter impact on the ecosystem, ghost fishing, vessel propeller entanglement, and tourism.
Ms. Heidi Savelli-Soderberg from the UN Environment Programme highlighted in her presentation that numerous participants in a recent meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Expert Group (AHEG) had expressed their view that the AHEG should recommend starting negotiations on a global agreement on marine plastics litter and microplastic.
Ms. Amparo Perez Roda from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) introduced FAO's efforts in Addressing Sea-based Sources of Marine Plastic Litter and appealed the cooperation with the NOWPAP Member States in the IMO-FAO-Norway GloLitter Partnership Global Project.
Mr. Shunichi Honda from the International Environmental Technology Centre, United Nations Environment Programme updated the meeting on the trends of waste generation and the current global waste management situation.
Ms. Susan Wingfield from the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, highlighted the expected Impacts of the Plastic Waste Amendments of the Basel Convention.
The workshop is a traditional annual workshop which is organized by the NOWPAP RCU. It has been organized in the NOWPAP countries jointly with TEMM since 2015.
