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Bangkok (ESCAP News) – The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in association with the Government of Japan, today launched a new project that aims to reduce the environmental impact of cities in Southeast Asia by addressing pollution for plastic waste in rivers and oceans
The ‘Closing the Loop’ project will support governments by addressing plastic waste pollution and leakage into the marine environment. To do this, the project will leverage innovative technologies such as remote sensing, satellites, and multi-source data applications to detect and monitor the sources and routes of plastic debris entering rivers in urban catchment areas. Four ASEAN cities will test the project: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Surabaya, Indonesia; Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand and Da Nang, Vietnam. “Cities are on the front line in tackling plastic waste in ASEAN, which is the world’s most polluting region when it comes to ocean plastics.
The proliferation of plastic pollution in our oceans is a serious danger to climate change, and thanks to the strong support of the Government of Japan, this new innovative project comes at an opportune moment to accelerate action on the subject, “said the undersecretary of the United Nations -General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Mrs. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana.
Rapidly growing cities in Southeast Asia are responsible for up to 60 percent of plastic waste leaks into the environment. 75 percent of the land-based sources of marine plastic pollution in the region come from uncollected waste and 25 percent from leaks in municipal waste management systems. Plastic pollution is also cross-border: Up to 95 percent of the plastic in our ocean is carried by ten major rivers, eight of which are in Asia.
The project will produce plastic waste maps and simulations for each pilot city and train officials and stakeholders in ASEAN cities to use smart technologies to monitor, evaluate, report and sustainably manage plastic waste, as well as further strengthen municipal solid waste management systems. Urban policy makers will also receive the tools and knowledge to develop investment policies and strategies that apply a circular economy approach to managing their plastic waste streams.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged the need for regional cooperation to address this critical issue in his post-G20 Summit statement in Osaka: “Marine plastic litter is another problem that only some countries cannot solve.
In such circumstances, the fact that the G20 was able to unite and share the Osaka Blue Ocean Vision, which aims to reduce further pollution from marine plastic litter to zero by 2050, represents a major step forward towards the resolution of this problem. “The ‘Closing the Loop’ project supports the local implementation of the ASEAN Framework for Action on Marine Debris and the G20 Osaka Blue Vision to address the proliferation of plastic litter, which accelerate action towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 11 (Sustainable cities and communities), 12 (Responsible consumption and production) and 14 (Life under water) This ESCAP – Japan initiative is implemented in close collaboration with local and national governments in Southeast Asia, the ASEAN, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) and other partners.
