The Philippines is pushing ahead to curb plastic pollution and transition to a circular economy despite the impasse in forging a global treaty.
An official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the Philippines needs a whole of society approach, including civil society and local government units (LGUs), to ensure action reaches until the grassroots.
The Philippines’ National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) recently brought together government, civil society, academe and development partners for a webinar to reflect on the stalled talks on a global plastic treaty.
The event provided stakeholders a first-hand look at output from the talks through the perspective of the members of the Philippine delegation, and opened the floor for discussions on what lies ahead for the country, with or without a treaty.
The Philippines has consistently played an active role in the negotiations toward a landmark, legally binding international instrument to address plastic pollution.
The initiative followd a United Nations Environment Assembly’s (UNEA) historic resolution calling for the treaty to address plastic pollution across its full life cycle.
“We were there because we want a global treaty that works. But despite the tireless work of all our delegations, unfortunately, the INC (Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee) was unable to finalize the treaty. This means the challenge before us is clear,” said DENR Undersecretary Jonas R. Leones.
“We need to continue (and) we need your continued collaboration to make (our) commitments a reality.”
While negotiations have reached an impasse, delegates underscored that momentum and cooperation remain strong.
“We are much more aware what plastic pollution is and how to respond. Our country remains committed to working with the international community to forge a legally binding instrument, and it is ideal to adopt a global framework,” said Janice Regoso-Pammit, chief of the legal division and concurrently board secretary of the Pollution Adjudication Board of the Environmental Management Bureau of the DENR.
Rosette Ferrer, chief of the Legal Research and Opinion Division of the DENR, stressed how locally-driven platforms such as the NPAP could be utilized to encourage greater collaboration across sectors.
“Our Ecological Solid Waste Management Act is already 20 years old and we still have a lot of problems in implementation,” she said.
Albert Magalang, chief of the DENR’s Climate Change Service, said ongoing international dialogues continue to shape national priorities.
“There are a lot of ongoing dialogues right now. There are invitations to participate in such dialogues especially for countries with similar proposals that are being enhanced,” he said.
“The way I see it, if there would be a treaty, it would provide guidance in enhancing further our national policies. As regards to the existing laws and policies that we have, we are moving towards the principle being espoused by the global plastics treaty,” he added.
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