Symposium on Marine Microplastics successfully held in Guiyang

On July 8th, the Symposium on Marine Microplastics during the 2018 Annual Meeting of Ecological Civilization Guiyang International Forum, which was operated by the China Oceanic Development Foundation(CODF), was successfully held in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province. The seminar was organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and co-organized by the Guizhou Provincial Department of Land and Resources, the National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center (NMEMC),and CODF. Wang Hong, member of the party group of the Ministry of Natural Resources and director of the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), attended the meeting and delivered a keynote speech. Lin Shanqing, member of the party group of the Ministry of Natural Resources, presided over the meeting. Pan Xinchun, Assistant president and Secretary General of CODF, attended the meeting. More than 200 government representatives, experts, scholars, environmentalists and representatives of international organizations from China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and other countries attended the meeting.

In November 2017, Premier Li Keqiang presented at the 12th East Asia Summit: "China is willing to strengthen maritime dialogue and cooperation with all parties under the framework of the summit and host a seminar on marine micro-plastics." The seminar actively implemented the spirit of Premier Li Keqiang's speech, and implemented the consensus of the East Asia Summit with the theme of "joining blue partners and protecting the health of the oceans". It will provide opportunities for cooperation and exchanges for solving the problem of marine microplastics in East Asian countries around the construction of marine ecological civilization.

2018 Ecological Civilization Guiyang International Forum Marine

 Microplastics Symposium

Wang Hong, member of the party group of the Ministry of Natural Resources and director of SOA, delivered a keynote speech

Lin Shanqing, member of the party group of the Ministry of Natural Resources, presided over the opening ceremony

Wang Hong said that the prevention and control of marine debris and microplastics is an important issue in global ocean governance and cannot be separated from the joint efforts of the international community. This microplastics seminar is the first joint action of East Asian countries in the protection of marine ecological environment. It is the first time to exchange and discuss the prevention and control of marine microplastic pollution. It will share experiences and build consensus among all parties concerned to jointly prevent and control marine pollution and protect marine health, which is of great significance. On the basis of respecting the respective economic and social development methods, the countries are encouraged to further deepen exchanges among governments, enterprises and people, share experiences and achievements, and take joint actions to become blue partners in all-round cooperation. In order to protect the beautiful ocean and protect the blue homeland, the Chinese government has carried out a series of marine debris and microplastics prevention and control work. We are willing to uphold the cooperative concept of peaceful development, mutual benefit and win-win, and jointly prevent marine debris and microplastic pollution with coastal countries.

During the meeting, government representatives, experts, scholars, environmentalists and representatives of international organizations from China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and other countries exchanged views on the status of microplastic pollution control in various countries. According to Ding Min-mei of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Myanmar, “In Myanmar, about 8,000 plastic bags are discarded every day for 12 minutes. Usually these plastic discards are directly buried in the area, and the harmful substances eventually spread to the ecology, which is harmful to the marine ecology.” Zhu Shuang, an assistant expert of the UNEP Division of Ecology, said: “The UNEP survey on marine microplastic floating debirs shows that the ban on single use of plastic bags is very effective, but in the long run biodegradability does not reduce the total amount of plastic waste."

Pan Xinchun, Assistant Director and Secretary General of CODF, attended the meeting

In order to better control marine microplastic pollution, a marine microplastics seminar initiative was finally formed. The initiative proposes to promote relevant countries including Southeast Asian countries to carry out all-round, multi-field and in-depth cooperation through the construction of blue partnerships, to prevent marine microplastic pollution, and to improve the whole process management system for microplastics production, consumption and disposal; Strengthen the management of microplastics source; accelerate the development and application of plastic product substitution and environmental cleaning technologies, encourage the production and use of biodegradable plastic products and traditional plastic substitutes; call for the broad participation of all sectors of society, encourage social organizations, groups and the public carry out clean-up operations, advocate green consumption and other means to control the emission of massive microplastics, prevent and significantly reduce marine microplastic pollution.