Region grappling with overflowing landfills, polluted waterways and impacted marine ecosystems
Photo for representation: iStock
The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) Asia Pacific, in collaboration with other environmental organisations, has called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take decisive action in response to plastic pollution.
The call comes ahead of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) to develop an international, legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. The INC-4 negotiations will take place in Ottawa, Canada, from April 23-30, 2024 and ASEAN delegates will be in attendance.
A letter, signed by over 100 civil society organisations (CSOs) from across Asia and the world, was delivered on April 18, 2024 to the ASEAN Secretariat. The letter urged ASEAN to take a leadership role in the ongoing negotiations for a global instrument specifically designed to tackle plastic pollution.
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The environmental damage caused by plastic pollution and the urgency of taking decisive action was highlighted by the letter, emphasising that a robust global instrument is essential to effectively address this complex issue.
“From single-use plastics to microplastics and toxic pollution from incineration, the unabated global plastic production will keep communities in Southeast Asia at the receiving end of a disproportionate burden of toxic pollution unless ASEAN countries take action,” the letter said.
The region is grappling with overflowing landfills, polluted waterways, and the devastating impact of plastic debris on marine ecosystems, it added.
“INC-4 is a crucial reminder for Member States to protect the rights of their people whose livelihoods, well-being, intergenerational and gender justice all hang loose on the fate of the prospective treaty,” the statement said.
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Mayang Azurin, deputy director for dampaigns of GAIA Asia Pacific, in a press statement, said:
ASEAN leaders must take the Global Plastics Treaty as an opportunity for addressing policy gaps on waste dumping and pushing for greater accountability to northern governments whose interest is to keep depicting the region as the most globally polluting to create the fake demands for its polluting waste technologies in various development cooperation mechanisms, all while dumping their plastic waste in our borders.
The CSOs advocated for a robust international treaty that includes legally binding obligations on governments to reduce plastic production and consumption.
They also called for focus on the entire plastic lifecycle, emphasising that an effective agreement should address all stages of the plastic lifecycle, from production and design to waste management and recycling.
A critical element of the global instrument should be a commitment to phasing out single-use plastic products, which are a major source of plastic pollution, the letter underlined.
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