April 21st, 2017: Following the invitation of the G7 Presidency of Italy and the United Nations Environment Programme/Mediterranean Action Plan, Mr. Lev Neretin, NOWPAP Senior Coordinator, attended the G7 Workshop on Marine Litter “Mainstreaming the work of the Regional Sea Programmes towards the better implementation of the G7 Action Plan and the achievement of the global commitments on marine litter” held on April 20-21st 2017 in Rome, Italy. Participants at the workshop representing G7 countries, Regional Seas Programmes, international organizations and representatives from business and NGO communities, discussed the ways how to enhance contributions from Regional Seas programmes towards the implementation of the G7 Action Plan to combat marine litter. NOWPAP contributed to the discussion and presented achievements, best practices and lessons learned in the implementation of the NOWPAP Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter.
Participants emphasized the importance of using existing platforms and tools for cooperation that would reduce duplication and take advantage of progress made (e.g. the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA), the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) and the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans. Due to regional differences, the Regional Seas programmes present various institutional, regulatory and operational mechanisms to combat marine litter issues, however, they all have to effectively interact with the processes, initiatives and actors at the global (e.g. GPA and its partnerships and campaigns), regional and national levels to ensure coherence, complementarities and measurable impact. The important role of aligning specific regional and national priorities on marine litter with global strategic goals (e.g. the relevant Sustainable Development Goals) was emphasized. Delegates agreed on the workshop document “The Way Forward” listing various priorities for action that would inform deliberations by the G7 Environment Ministers meeting in June 2017 on the next steps in the implementation of the G-7 Action Plan on Marine Litter.
Photo credits:
1. Participants at the G-7 Marine Litter Workshop.
2. Ms. Sayo Morita (Japan’s Ministry of the Environment) (c.), Mr. Kazuhiro Yoshida (IDEA Consultants, Inc.) (r.) and Mr. Lev Neretin (l.) at the meeting.
