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Japan, UNEP deepen cooperation on plastic pollution and post-conflict recovery
Photo by Ishan @seefromthesky on Unsplash
Bangkok, 25 May 2020 – Japan and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today announced a new cooperative effort to tackle plastic pollution across Asia and support post-conflict environmental recovery in Iraq and South Sudan. Japan will contribute US$6.9 million to four UNEP-led projects.
The bulk of the funding will fund a second phase of the CounterMEASURE project, which is determining the origins of plastic pollution in some of Asia’s major rivers and has supported the establishment of local partnerships for reducing plastic pollution. The first phase of the year-long project has used novel technologies and methodologies to track plastic pollution to its sources along the Mekong and Ganges rivers. This allows for bespoke policy recommendations to governments to help stop plastic pollution where it is leaking into waterways.
