Tag Archive for: plastic

Empowers successful clean-up in “the hinge of Africa”

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The local section of ICENECDEV – Cameroon organised a full action packed clean-up  in the coastal village of Isobe Idenau. The community members received information on the effects of marine litter and how actions can be taken in order to prevent waste from ending up in the environment. Their joint efforts led to a collection of 1004,8 kg of plastic waste! Which means the coastal community made sure that they saved more than a ton of waste from ending up in the ocean and harming our marine life. The executive director Fongoh Eric and his organizing team ICENECDEV together with the local community worked hard to realise this goal!
Discovery Networks Norway joined this plastic waste movement on their impact day and contributed to clean-up with quintuple global effect sponsoring clean-ups around the world. Thanks to their sponsorship, it led to new clean-up in a whole new region of Empowers journey- West Cameroon. Because of the geographical and cultural diversity of the country, it is often referred to as “Africa in miniature” and as “the hinge of Africa”.
Like many African countries, Cameroon exhibits the burdens of waste managements. Several factors such as inadequate financial resources, low levels of enforcement of regulations, lack of knowledge and poor governance often lead to poor waste management services. The local partner ICENECDEV (also accredited to UNEP) has actively been working towards combating marine plastic litter and micro plastics.
With partners they aim to increase awareness and actions on the environment along the coastal village communities along the west coast of Cameroon (Isobe, Idenau, Etissah, Batoke,Bakingli). «We are thrilled to be a part of this campaign with ICENECDEV to illuminate on the waste problem and incentivize plastic waste collection in the region. We humbly thank everyone involved for all their superb efforts in this collaboration».

Read the full article here

Five steps to reduce your ecological footprint during the 10WEEC

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Food, water, waste, CO2 emissions, paper. What you can do to reduce your ecological footprint during the 10WEEC? Remember to adopt all the suggestions!

You can determine the carbon footprint of your flight and donate the amount necessary to offset to the environmental project The Laom Phak Bia Royal, an useful way to offer your contribution to a local project. Use the Carbon Emission Calculator that you will find in Bitec.

Bring your reusable bottle, you will find a dispenser with cool water!

We will donate the leftover food to local organisation, but you remember to use the separate bin for your waste and don’t use paper if you don’t need it, thank you.

Plastic Free is the way to be

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On the 21st of November the Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas Intergroup (Searica) met with MIO-ECSDE and the informal Circle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians for Sustainable Development (COMPSUD) at the European Parliament in Brussels. This was a unique occasion where Members of the European Parliament and Members of Parliament of non-EU countries came together with marine litter experts, environmental NGOs, journalists and other key stakeholders to explore the next steps in achieving a litter-free Mediterranean Sea. The event was attended by some 65 participants from 20 or so countries. Read more here.

For a long time we have known that plastic in the ocean is a problem; we know the causes of it deleterious effects on the marine environment.

With the Plastic Strategy and its approach to phase out or ban certain plastic products, the EU has set a benchmark against plastic pollution. A lot is happening already at this crucial moment. We need to leave the plastics behind and rethink the future of plastics towards plastics free oceans and seas.

A second meeting organised by GWP/ Med was held on the 22nd in Brussels implementing NEXUS programme in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries about Water, Energy, Food and biodiversity. How to avoid that the consumption of one of them may diminish or damage the others. We are aware, in fact, that when we take something out from our planet we’ll pay in some way, particularly in biodiversity.

Patrizia Bonelli, representative of WEEC Network (second from the left)

Microplastics and circular economy, the challanges of the Mediterranean media

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Two days and five sessions of work were held with scientists and journalists to discuss the energy transition of the Mediterranean region, the circular economy and combatting plastic pollution. The program has been completed with two sessions dedicated to initiatives and tools for the journalistic profession, and to debating and exchanging experiences between professionals.
Around 50 environmental journalists and scientists from 20 countries in the Mediterranean basin, researchers, experts, NGOs, and international institutions attended the 3rd Meeting of Environmental Journalists of Mediterranean News Agencies, held at the UfM headquarters, in Barcelona, Spain (13th and 14th Novamber).
The event has been promoted by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in collaboration with the Alliance of Mediterranean News Agencies (AMAN) and EFEverde of the EFE Agency.

As part of the activities, journalists, scientists and experts paid a visit to the Switchmed Connect’s exhibition on “The Circular Economy in the Mediterranean region”. The exhibition showcased impactful stories from the SwitchMed programme, an initiative that supports and connects stakeholders to scale-up social and eco innovations in the Mediterranean.

“Our ocean plays such a critical role in our economy, and the Mediterranean is both a tourism and conservation hotspot filled with rich biodiversity. We cannot afford to continue turning our ocean into a vast, contaminated plastic soup”, highlighted Antonio Troya, director of the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation.

“The Mediterranean is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to the effects of climate change and environmental degradation. Promoting a collective response from the countries of the region to these challenges is at the heart of the Union for the Mediterranean’s mandate”, said Jorge Borrego, UfM Senior Deputy Secretary-General for Energy and Climate Action. George Penintaex, Secretary General of the Alliance of Mediterranean News Agencies (AMAN) and Arturo Larena, Director of EFE Verde at the EFE News Agency, also addressed the audience at the opening session.

The leit motiv across all the work sessions was that of plastics and microplastics in the sea, the tip of an iceberg that everyone sees and whose consequences are easily understood even by the general public.

The challenge of the energy transition, focusing on the role of renewable resources and energy efficiency, also for its social consequences, was the theme of the first and second round table discussions. Among the best practices presented: the Plastic Buster project that analyzes how waste affects marine life, the film A plastic Ocean. On the subject of microplastics Marie-Aude Sevin, IUCN expert on the marine program dedicated to plastics presented the site marplasticcs.org in which are gathered resources, best practices, events and other useful information on the topic of microplastics. Lucile Courtial of the Prince Albert Foundation in Monaco presented Beyond Plastic Med, a network of stakeholders connected with the objective of collecting data and giving concrete and sustainable solutions to the problem of marine pollution.
The meeting was also an opportunity to compare policy-makers, consumers and the plastics industry and to present useful initiatives and tools for disseminators and journalists on the issues of pollution and science. For example, Patrick Wegerdt of the European Commission DG Environment pointed out that we are moving towards a 100% recyclable plastic and that 50% of waste at sea is made up of disposable plastic objects. The video “Are you eating plastic for dinner?” can be an interesting example of how plastic negatively affects our lives and our health. How to build a society without plastic? From this provocative question Jesus Iglesisas (Ecopreneurs for the Climate) started to explain how the problem of plastic is above all social “the alternatives exist – he said – but we must start from a radical change of habits” in which the key words are inclusion, cooperation, sustainability. The climateinnovation.city site presents events, actors and workers in this direction.

This initiative wants to establish a network of communicators and journalists,  a meeting point where to exchange opinions and discussions. In addition, this event facilitates direct access to important sources of environmental information in both scientific and political areas, as well as aspects of management.

The two previous meetings in Málaga (2015) and Marrakech (2016) enabled the consolidation of this network of communicators, and resulted in several important outcomes including; the publication titled “A journalist’s guide on environmental information”, the launch of the MAP Ecology section as part of the Moroccan News Agency, and the creation of the online platform medgreenjournalism.net to foster networking of environmental journalists across the Mediterranean.

A plastic-free Mediterranean Sea in the making

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Mediterranean Members of Parliament and key stakeholders discuss the state of play and realistic steps forward (Brussels, November 21st, European Parliament).

Most Mediterranean countries, on both shores, are at a moment when Parliaments are deciding on measures to curb the use of single use plastics and mainly plastic bags. Are the most informed decisions being made? What should the next steps be?

The root causes of marine litter in the Mediterranean are the same as anywhere else in the world: a complex combination of production and consumption patterns, irresponsible behavior of individuals and economic sectors, lack of policy and legislative frameworks, weak solid waste management practices, misconceptions related to possible solutions, fragmented understanding of the problem due to the lack of fit-for-purpose data.

Large amounts of plastic waste leak into the marine environment from sources on land and at sea, generating significant environmental and economic damage. They are estimated to account for over 80% of marine litter. Single-use plastic items are a major component of the plastic leakage and are among the items most commonly found on beaches, representing some 50% of the marine litter found.

Being one of the most affected seas by marine litter worldwide, Mediterranean decision makers are gradually reacting. Understanding and knowledge of the problem has been substantially enhanced in the past few years, with several studies shedding light on the amounts, distribution, sources and impacts. As a result, bold moves are taking shape on the EU side driven by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and measures and pilot actions are advancing in the non-EU countries under the Regional Plan for Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean of the Barcelona Convention.
The Searica Intergroup together with the informal Circle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians for Sustainable Development (COMPSUD) and the contribution of other key actors is exploring through this meeting realistic options on how to effectively curb plastic pollution in the Mediterranean region.

Program

16:30 – 16:45 Welcome remarks by Ms Gesine MEISSNER, MEP, President of the European Parliament Intergroup Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas (Searica)
16:45 – 17:10 Outlining the marine litter challenge in the Mediterranean.
Mapping certainties and uncertainties: a prerequisite for better decision-making.
Dr. Thomie Vlachogianni, Marine Litter expert, MIO-ECSDE

Keeping litter on land
Prof. Moh Rejdali, Chairman of COMPSUD, Member of the Moroccan Parliament

Promising measures and lessons learned from the implementation of the Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean
Mr. Gaetano Leone, UN Environment MAP Coordinator

Putting the plastics challenge at the heart of EuroMed policy and actions
Ms Alessandra Sensi, Head of Sector, Environment and Blue Economy, Union for the Mediterranean Secretariat

17:10 – 18:00 Panel Discussion, incl. Q&A: Doing the right thing and doing it right: where are the difficulties?

Introduced and moderated by Mrs. Estaras Ferragut, MEP, Board Member of the Intergroup – Mediterranean
Prof. Michael Scoullos, MIO-ECSDE Chairman & Team Leader of the EU SWIM-H2020 Support Mechanism

Mr. Michel SPONAR, Deputy Head of Unit, Directorate General for the Environment, European Commission

Plastic Producers or Plastic Recyclers/Converters

MP (South)

MP (EU)

18:00 – 18:50 Panel Discussion, incl. Q&A: What are the next steps forward? Introduced and moderated by Mr. Davor Skrlec, MEP

Ms Francoise Bonnet, Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management

Fisheries Association/Aquaculture

Mr. Fouad Makhzoumi, MP, Lebanon

Tourism sector

MP

18:50 – 19:00 Conclusions
A MEP and Prof. Scoullos

Canada joins CleanSeas campaign to combat plastic pollution in the ocean

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During the  World Environmental Education Congress the Canadian Government announced a clear commitment to tackle plastic marine debris in the ocean by joining the United Nations CleanSeas campaign.
With approximately 8 million tonnes of plastic ending up in the ocean every year, the CleanSeas campaign is working with governments, the private sector and the general public to phase out the production and consumption of single-use plastics and microbeads within the next five years.
If no action is taken, there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050.

Canada has the longest coastline in the world and has been at the forefront of international efforts to protect the marine environment. In June, the Canadian Government published the Microbeads in Toiletries Regulations prohibiting the manufacture, import and sale of toiletries used to exfoliate or cleanse that contain plastic microbeads. Canada will contribute to the campaign though initiatives that target pollution prevention, conducting research of the impact of micro plastics in the aquatic environment and biota, and funding community-based programs, including shorefront cleanups.
«Our coastlines are important environmental links to the diversity of life on our planet. For Canadians, they define much of the natural beauty we hold dear. We are firm in our resolve to protect and enhance Canada’s coastlines and its oceans, and to play a leadership role internationally in addressing existing and emerging environmental concerns» said Jonathan Wilkinson, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment said that «Canada’s continued commitment confirms that we are heading in the right direction with the fight against marine pollution. We look forward to working together to turn the tide on plastic pollution in our oceans».
The CleanSeas campaign recognizes the importance of environmental education and ocean literacy as tools to change knowledge, attitudes and practices with regards to the production and consumption of single use plastics. UN Environment has developed an online executive course on marine litter while programs such as Ocean Wise provide direct learning opportunities reaching about 400,000 people every year.

CleanSeas furthers a critically important message, said John Nightingale, CEO and president of Ocean Wise, one that is in line with the organization’s own mission. “As founder of the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup — which sees Canadians clean up shorelines in every territory and province — and now home to a major ocean plastic research laboratory, Ocean Wise applauds Canada’s commitment. We look forward to working even more closely with the Government of Canada across the country and around the world as part of the global UN CleanSeas campaign.”

The CleanSeas campaign also contributes to the goals of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter, a voluntary open-ended partnership for international agencies, governments, businesses, academia, local authorities and non-governmental organizations hosted by UN Environment.

Read more:
CleanSeas campaign’s website
Global partnership on marine litter
Ocean Wise