The 2022 United Nations Ocean conference was held both in-person and virtual formats between 27 June and 1 July 2022. The Ocean Conference comes at a time where society is faced with the COVID-19 pandemic – which has exacerbated marine plastic pollution and other ocean related problems. The theme of the Conference "Scaling up ocean action based on science and innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: stocktaking, partnerships and solutions" was thus aimed at helping society explore innovative science-based solutions needed to address many of the deep-rooted problems of our societies laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic and which will require major structural transformations and common shared solutions that are anchored in the SDGs.
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On 27 June, the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme (SGP), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), hosted a side event entitled “Plastics & Circular Economy: Community Solutions”. Nearly 100 people joined the side event from all around the world. SGP’s Global Manager, Ms Yoko Watanabe moderated the event, with opening remarks from Dr Leah Karrer, Senior Environmental Specialist, GEF. Watch the full recording of this event here.
A panel discussion included stakeholders from multiple sectors consisting of governments, UNDP, GEF and civil society organizations. The first speaker, Dr. Sulan Chen, Programme Advisor, GEF SGP, provided an overview of UNDP’s Community to Cabinet Approach to Plastics Management and highlighted some success stories. Hon. Vaughn P. Miller, Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources, Bahamas, spoke about the plastic crisis in Bahamas and outlined government’s efforts to address the problem. Ms. Betty Osei Bonsu, Project Coordinator, Green Africa Youth Organization brought in a community perspective, highlighting a number of community actions to enhance waste reduction and material recirculation in Ghana. The next speaker, Mr. Joseph Ibrahim, Programme manager, Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation also highlighted the role of the youth in plastics management in Nigerian. Following Mr. Joseph’s presentation, Ms. Lyndy Bastienne, National coordinator, GEF-SGP Seychelles talked about some innovative activities aimed at reducing plastic pollution in Seychelles as well as challenges in the implementation of their interventions. All presentations and discussions highlighted important steps taken by stakeholders across scales to tackle plastic pollution. The session also underscored some of the important challenges we face today.
In her concluding remarks, SGP’s Global Manager, Yoko Watanabe expressed gratitude to all stakeholders for the continuous support for the implementation of the SGP’s work on plastics and waste management. She also encouraged them to support SGP’s Plastic Innovation programme and the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) Innovation programme. These are new initiatives to advance UNDP’s efforts to address plastic pollution and related development challenges at the community level. Ms Yoko’s final remarks also highlighted the need to explore partnership opportunities to scale up good practices from the local to the global level; it is only through collective efforts at different scales that we can make significant progress in addressing the plastic problem.