Asean meet aims to cut sea waste

PHUKET: The first Asean meeting on reducing waste at sea reflects the bloc’s commitment to this rising scourge and paves the way for remedial measures, environment minister Surasak Kanjanarat said.

“We expect the meeting will ultimately lead to a commitment by Asean to set targets for dealing with marine waste pollution [in the region]. If we have more cooperation and more information, we can reach that stage,” Gen Surasak said at a two-day Asean conference on the subject that kicked off yesterday.

“It seems we can’t do much right now [in easing marine waste] but in the future we have much to do,” he added.

The world’s top four polluters in terms of plastic waste entering the ocean are in Asia.

China, which releases 2.22 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, is No 1 followed by Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, according to the United Nations Environment Program. Thailand ranks sixth.

The meeting yesterday draws together Asean state officials, academics, international conservation groups and local civic groups. Some 70% of the regional bloc’s population live in coastal areas.

Wijarn Simachaya, permanent secretary of the Environment Ministry, said the ministry recently launched campaigns in a bid to reduce the amount of plastic and other refuse entering the sea.

This includes a smoking ban on 24 beaches in 15 provinces as cigarette butts take 12 years to degrade.

A ministry survey showed that, prior to the ban, 1.66 kilogrammes of butts were scraped up per square kilometre of crowded beach at popular Thai resort islands. The campaign has met with a mixed reception with critics saying it is too authoritarian.

According to the UN Environment authority, Asean hosts a third of the world’s coastal and marine habitats that support 75% of global coral species.

The group’s marine territory provides habitats for many sea turtle species and 51 of the 70 mangrove species worldwide.

The mangrove forests have an estimated ecological value of US$5.1 billion while the coral reefs are worth over 20 times as much, or $112.5 billion.

The meeting was due to issue a report after it wrapped up yesterday setting out a framework for Asean to cut sea waste. The report will be submitted to the UN at a summit in Kenya next month.