Day 3: Financing and cooperation
18 November 2021
Marine litter is a transboundary issue requiring cross-jurisdictional cooperation to tackle the problem. The SEA of Solutions 2021 event concluded on the third day with a robust discussion among key decision makers from multilateral institutions, government ministries and industry, on what they must do to reform waste management systems and keep plastics out of the ocean.
At the distinguished panel dialogue, officials from the environment ministries of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan shared detailed plans to reduce plastic at a national level. Also appearing on the panel were representatives from the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, and Convention on Migratory Species. Developing stricter legislation to charge for or ban harmful single-use plastic was described as a “low-hanging fruit” that should be dealt with immediately, though it was noted that clear roadmaps with phased targets are essential to help businesses and consumers ease into the change.
Southeast Asian governments are also beginning to enact Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Schemes. For example, Indonesia’s EPR regulation will oblige producers and retailers to redesign their product packaging to have a higher proportion of recyclable material, and require that they take greater responsibility for the management of waste from their products. The regulation is part of a wider effort to cut Indonesia’s waste output by 30 per cent by 2025 from 2018 levels.
Panellists agreed that there are good examples of public-private partnerships in waste management and that these initiatives should be expanded to reduce plastic use at its source. Sustainable financing mechanisms need to be put in place to facilitate the adoption of plastic waste collection and recycling, experts said. Participants also explored how current plastic credit schemes could be improved. Beyond such schemes, innovative financing also calls for large-scale grants and loans by multilateral development banks and microfinancing for community-based action.
In a key message delivered at the closing session, Swedish Ambassador for the Ocean Helen Ågren acknowledged that many of the technical challenges of plastic recycling have been resolved in the past two years. This signifies progress. A new global agreement is now needed to address the gaps and fragmentations in the response to plastic pollution. There should be more platforms to facilitate the sharing of best practices and innovative solutions.
Dato’ Mansor bin Haji Othman, Malaysia’s Deputy Minister of Environment and Water, who is co-host of the annual flagship event, said in his closing remarks that countries in Southeast Asia have important roles to play in pushing for more collaboration and that they need to start putting solutions into practice. Without cooperation, plastic pollution will easily become everyone’s problem but nobody’s responsibility. UN Environment Programme through the SEA circular Project continues to inspire market-based solutions and enabling policies to prevent marine plastic pollution.
