In cooperation with the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) Secretariat, the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) presented its achievements in addressing marine litter through a global webinar on 29 March 2021. This webinar was the first event of a series presenting activities of Regional Nodes of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter.
Yegor Volovik, NOWPAP Coordinator, opened and chaired the webinar. He highlighted a partnership built in the fight against marine litter, including the close cooperation between NOWPAP and GPML.
Feng Yan, Director of NOWPAP Data and Information Network Regional Activity Center, introduced the progress of the Northwest Pacific Regional Node of GPML. He proposed to build a city alliance in the region to promote sharing of best practices in the prevention and control of marine litter.
Anne Bowser and Marta Ottogalli from the GPML Secretariat presented the GPML Digital Platform Phase II: focus on the data hub. The hub will help stakeholders to find trusted data and information across the full plastic life-cycle.
Ning Liu, NOWPAP Programme Officer, introduced the NOWPAP Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter. He summarized the progress of the NOWPAP Member States in preventing, monitoring, and removing marine litter.
Nakshima Keiji, Director of the Office of Policies against Marine Plastics Pollution, Ministry of the Environment of Japan, presented the G20 Implementation Framework for Actions on Marine Plastic Litter. He stated that the “Osaka Blue Ocean Vision” had promoted more countries to reduce additional pollution by marine plastic litter to zero by 2050 through a comprehensive life-cycle approach.
Sunwook Hong, Director of Our Sea of East Asia Network, introduced the Third Regional Overview of Marine Litter in the Northwest Pacific Region. She highlighted that beach litter in the NOWPAP region is higher than those in other regions. She also recommended how to unify the marine litter data reporting in the region.
The audience inquired about the participation of civil society, removing technology, regional cooperation mechanisms, etc. The webinar proved to be a very useful channel to raise awareness and build a partnership on addressing marine litter.
Recording of the seminar is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbpWNWTww-g.
