28-29 June 2021
The MIMA Centre for Coastal and Marine Environment Head, Cheryl Rita Kaur was invited to co-facilitate the identified discussion streams alongside Julius Piercy from the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra), UK, during the pre-meeting of the Ministerial Conference on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution.
The meeting focused on (i) national and regional cooperation, coordination, and implementation, and (ii) financial and technical support.
The discussion streams held over Webex
The results will lead to the informal Ministerial Conference on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution, which will be jointly held in September 2021 by the governments of Ecuador, Germany, Ghana, and Vietnam, with technical and logistical support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The recent pre-meeting attended by Cheryl Rita is an effort to facilitate a constructive outcome of the Ministerial Conference, with the earlier session held in May 2021.
The Ministerial Conference is intended to garner high-level political support for action on marine litter and plastic pollution, as well as to further explore the elements of coordinated global action, in the run-up to the Fifth Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, which will take place from 28 February to 2 March 2022 (UNEA 5.2). The Assembly aims to produce a non-negotiated Ministerial Statement that elaborates on this. The inaugural session of UNEA-5 (UNEA-5.1) was conducted online from 22-23 February 2021, with the overarching subject of ‘Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.’ The overarching goal of these activities is to put the issue of marine litter and plastic pollution at the top of the political agenda in UNEA 5.2.
During the recent meeting, delegates and participants were invited to share their perspectives and provide inputs on the identified streams.
The financial and technical support theme facilitated by Cheryl and Julius
Overall, more than 400 delegates and participants participated, representing all areas and demonstrating a strong interest to make progress in addressing the issue. Substantive feedback was gathered from the discussion streams.
MIMA is pleased to have participated in worldwide and national debates on marine litter and plastic pollution, and will continue to contribute to policy inputs and strategies on resolving related problems and difficulties.