Ending Plastic Pollution: Spotlight on East and Southeast Asia

Background

Plastic pollution is a global environmental issue. East and Southeast Asia are of strategic importance in the fight against plastic pollution, the rivers and coastlines of which are some of the most affected by plastic pollution. The region’s coastlines border some of the richest ocean ecosystems in the world, putting them at risk.

In recent years, plastic pollution mitigation and waste management have become policy priorities across Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations¹ (ASEAN), plus the People’s Republic of China, Japan and Korea (ASEAN Plus Three). Nine such countries have developed national action plans and roadmaps to mitigate plastic pollution or to improve waste management, and the remaining four are in the process of doing so. As a collective, promoting the development of circular economy action plans and addressing the issue of marine plastic debris both feature as items for co-operation in the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Work Plan 2023-2027. Policy on plastic pollution in the region also constitute a global stake in the fight against plastic pollution.

¹: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam

Objectives

This event is organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), jointly with the Japanese Ministry of the Environment and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). 
This event seeks to spotlight current trends in plastic flows and pollution across ASEAN Plus Three Member States as well as showcase effective national and regional initiatives, and identify priorities for scaling up policy action, financing and partnerships - within the marine environment and beyond.

This event aims at exploring the following questions for the region:

• ● What are they key challenges that need to be addressed across the region?
• ● How are countries in the region advancing to address these challenges and more specifically:
  • o How are countries monitoring plastic pollution in aquatic environments?
  • o How should policymakers prioritise interventions for plastic pollution prevention and remediation?
  • o What are current challenges and innovative solutions to tackle plastic pollution in national and sub-national governments? How can regional co-operation help to amplify efforts?
  • o What are best practices for acting upstream in the plastics lifecycle, including to promote reuse, eco-design, or reduction? What are opportunities to mobilise finance for these interventions?
  • o How are (blue) financing challenges being dealt with at the local level? What are innovative solutions and lessons learned from blue finance initiatives pursuant to plastic pollution?
  • o What are good practices that show how the informal waste sector can become an effective part of the solution?