City to City Inception Meeting under Closing the Loop Project

IGES organizes the City to City Inception Meeting as part of the “Closing the Loop” Project
On 23 July, IGES, in partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and with financial support from the Government of Japan, held a virtual City to City Inception Meeting with local governments from four selected Asian cities: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Surabaya, Indonesia; Da Nang, Vietnam and; Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. As part of the ESCAP project “Closing the Loop: Scaling up Innovation to Tackle Marine Plastic Pollution in ASEAN Cities,” the meeting introduced the city teams to each other, informed them about the project, and promoted learning about each city’s plastic waste management policy goals, challenges, and early successes.

With Nakhon Si Thammarat selected as one of the four pilot ASEAN cities, the Mayor, Assistant Professor Chaowawat Saenpong, assigned Deputy Mayor Sawai Khiewchan to preside over the virtual meeting and share the city’s updates and policy goals. Following the successful meeting, Nakhon Si Thammarat City Municipality released a press release to officially announce the project details through their official website and social media channel. These are available at http://www.nakhoncity.org/news_all/show_detail.php?sId=909 and https://www.facebook.com/pr.nakhoncity1/posts/588138945184510 

The aim of the Closing the Loop Project is to strengthen the capacity of cities to improve plastic waste management and reduce plastic pollution flows into the ocean by making municipal plastic waste management processes more circular. The project aligns with the local implementation of the ASEAN Framework of Action on Marine Debris, the Roadmap for Plastic and Waste Management 2018-2030 from the Royal Government of Thailand, and supports the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals 11, 12 and 14.