The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has adopted a national plan of action to reduce marine litter in Philippine waters by 2040.
In a statement, DENR Undersecretary for Policy, Planning and International Affairs Jonas R. Leones said the adoption of the National Plan of Action for the Reduction of Marine litter (NPOA-ML) in Philippine waters will enhance government efforts in resource and waste management in the country's waterways and marine environment.
The NPOA-ML will be implemented under DENR Memorandum Circular (MC) 2021-10.
“This initiative is timely as the country has been named by external studies as one of the main sources of plastic leakages into oceans,” Leones said.
“It also presents opportunities to revisit current efforts in municipal solid waste management, particularly reduce-reuse-recycle or 3Rs approaches, and eventually help localize the NPOA-ML,” he added.
After he made such a statement, Leones also lauded the ratification of the Philippine Green Jobs Act (Republic Act 10771), which promotes a green economy and provides “incentives to enterprises that provide green goods and services, green jobs, green technologies, and sustainable development.”
Green jobs refer to employment that restores the environment’s clean quality, especially in the agriculture, service, and industry sectors. Examples are jobs in water conservation, sustainable forestry, biofuels, geothermal energy, environmental remediation, energy audit, recycling, electric vehicles, solar power, and wind energy.
Leones said it is important that the Philippines adopts programs on climate change mitigation and adaptation since it is one of the world’s climate-vulnerable countries.
Right now, the Philippines suffers from around 20 tropical cyclones yearly and daily seismic tremors being in the Pacific Ring of Fire.
It is thus critical for the Philippines to cooperate with international partners in its effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Leones stressed that the Philippines is committed for the next decade to reduce and avoid GHG emissions by 75 percent.