The remark was made by Deputy Director of the Vietnam Agency of Seas and Islands (VASI) Truong Tri Duc at a workshop "Regional Cooperation towards a Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution" on July 26.
Deputy Director Truong Tri Duc also said the Vietnamese Government always attaches importance to the protection of the maritime and insular environment, especially regarding issues related to marine biodiversity conservation, maritime and coastal environment, plastic waste, and marine plastic pollution.
This is also part of the efforts to promote the sustainable development of sea-based economic activities, the official told the event, which saw the participation of representatives of the 11 PEMSEA members as well as non-member countries.
Stressing Vietnam’s support for the negotiations on a global treaty on plastic pollution, he added that once adopted, the deal will be a vivid demonstration of countries’ cooperation in dealing with pollution in general and plastic pollution in particular.
Ramla Khalidi, Resident Representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, emphasised the core role of cooperation in resolving the worsening plastic pollutionsituation.
Highlighting two important aspects of the fight against plastic pollution, she said the first is to recognise, support, and increase contributions by informal waste workers to waste management systems and consider how a global treaty could be built based on these contributions, as informal workers in ASEAN countries have a crucial role to play in waste management.
The second is that the realisation of the treaty’s ambitious goals will require sufficient financial resources, especially through innovative financing mechanisms, to ensure efforts are fully supported to implement changes in reality, Khalidi went on.
Mette Moglestue, deputy head of Mission of the Norwegian Embassy in Vietnam, said the Norwegian-funded Ending Plastic Pollution Innovation Challenge (EPPIC) project has created opportunities for PEMSEA members and non-member countries to discuss and contribute to the treaty negotiations.
The diplomat noted one important thing is that the parties concerned need to agree on different measures for handling the entire life cycle of plastics, from production and design to waste management. Another measure is that a treaty must include legally binding obligations to help effectively minimise plastic pollution.
The EPPIC, funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, has invited innovators from across ASEAN to share their breakthrough ideas to deal with plastic pollution. It was launched in Vietnam and Thailand in 2021, then expanded to Indonesia and the Philippines in 2022, and further grew to include Laos and Cambodia this year.
At the workshop, participants agreed on the importance of joint efforts to combat plastic pollution. A common document was also devised to draft a cooperation strategy for handling this problem, helping the building of a global treaty on plastic pollution.
