The 2020 NOWPAP Marine Litter Focal Points Meeting, organized virtually by the NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit on December 3, 2020, discussed how to revise the NOWPAP Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter.
The NOWPAP Action Plan on Marine Litter, which was adopted in 2008, has facilitated the cooperation among the NOWPAP Member States and partners to address marine litter issues in the Northwest Pacific region. However, after more than a decade of changes of measures to address marine litter, and the development of scientific knowledge, there is a need to update the Regional Action Plan to the modern standards.
In the meeting, Dr. Karen Raubenheimer, University of Wollongong, Australia, highlighted that the Regional Action Plan should be a 'moving' document differentiating regional actions with nation actions. It should pay more attention to market-based instruments, legislation, upstream principles and funding sources.
Dr. Sunwook Hong, President, Our Sea of East Asia Network (OSEAN), presented the knowledge gaps identified by the Third Overview of Marine Litter in the NOWPAP Region. She recommended studying macro and meso-sized plastics for source and solution-oriented efforts; studying the impact of marine litter in various compartments; activating web database using comparable data form; promoting the participation of citizens and companies; and integrating scientific results and policy measures (science-based management.
The NOWPA RCU introduced the major revisions of the Regional Action Plan. The Plan has been revised referring to the recommendations of the Third Overview of Marine Litter in the NOWPAP Region, other Regional Action Plans on Marine Litter, and the UNEP guidelines in this regard. The participants expressed their appreciation to RCU for their efforts to revise the Plan, shared their views on the major revisions, and agreed on a schedule to finalize the Plan in late 2021.
Moreover, the meeting welcomed the fundraising and partnership building efforts of RCU and the NOWPAP Regional Activity Center and reviewed the progress of the Regional Node on Marine Litter which is managed by the Data and Information Networking Regional Activity Center (DINRAC). Pollution Monitoring Regional Activity Center (POMRAC) reported the results of the study of microplastics in the coastal marine zone of Russia as well.
It was agreed that the next NOWPAP Marine Litter Focal Points meeting to be held in Japan in late September 2021.
