Sino-Norwegian Cooperation - Capacity Building for Marine Waste Plastics and Microplastics Management

On June 8, 2023, the concluding meeting of the "Sino-Norwegian Cooperation - Capacity Building on Marine Waste Plastics and Microplastics Management" project (hereinafter referred to as "the Project") was successfully held in Beijing. The meeting was organized by the Basel Convention Regional Center for Asia and the Pacific (BCRCAP), the implementing agency of the project, and was attended by nearly 40 participants from the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing, the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, the Department of International Cooperation, the Department of Solid Waste and Chemicals, and the Department of Marine Ecology and Environment of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, as well as representatives from project participants and project demonstration cities.

The opening ceremony, technical exchange and project review sessions were held. The opening session was chaired by Li Jinhui, Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Center and Professor of Tsinghua University. The opening speeches were delivered by Mr. Tang Kerner, Minister of the Norwegian Embassy in China, Mr. Yang Xiaoling, Deputy Director General and First Inspector of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Mr. Wen Xuefeng, Deputy Director General of the Department of Solid Waste and Chemicals of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and Mr. Erin Eksta, Director Expert of the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment. Mr. Elliptic Larsen, Deputy Director of Norwegian Water Research Institute, reviewed the history of cooperation between Norway and China in the field of environment.


In his speech, Minister Tonkerner said that he had read many project evaluation reports in his career and found that the project evaluation report was fair and clear in its evaluation of the project results and benefits achieved, i.e., the project was a great success and produced outstanding results, and the project results made an important contribution to national policies related to "waste-free cities", plastics and microplastics, and Sino-Norwegian bilateral dialogue. The results of the project have made important contributions to the national "waste-free cities", policies related to plastics and microplastics, and the bilateral dialogue between Norway and China; the project has generated broad social benefits by sharing results with other countries, enriching global knowledge, and training future professionals; and the project has contributed to achieving Norway's strategic goals in the fight against marine litter and microplastics, and has been important in improving the management capacity of both Chinese and Norwegian governments.

Deputy Director Yang Xiaoling highly appreciated the hard work of the project participants in the project implementation process, which produced many important results and promoted the implementation of relevant policies in China, contributing Chinese wisdom and experience to the global plastic pollution control.



Deputy Director Wen Xuefeng expressed that the project focuses on marine waste plastics and microplastics, attaches importance to capacity building, and fits the actual needs of plastic pollution control in China. He hopes to continue to strengthen cooperation and deepen friendship, contribute to the global environmental protection cause with practical actions, and actively promote the process of the New Plastics Convention.


The technical exchange session was chaired by Nana Zhao, Assistant Director of APAS, and the project units reported the main research contents and results of their respective responsibilities. Researcher Chen Yuan, Director of the Regional Chemicals Management Office of APAS, first introduced the overall project implementation and the international and domestic impacts of the project outputs. Anna Maios, Coordinator of the Waste and Plastic Pollution Group of the Norwegian Environment Agency, reported on Norwegian and European policies on plastic pollution and post-INC2 reflections, and Lin Yan, Senior Researcher of the Norwegian Water Research Institute, introduced capacity building for plastic monitoring and modeling in the environment. Tan Quanyin, Director of the Integrated Office of the Asia-Pacific Center, reported on a case study of life cycle assessment of typical products; Liu Chunxin, Researcher of the Technical Center of Solid Waste and Chemical Management of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, introduced the environmentally sound management of plastic waste in China and the exploration of plastic reduction of express packaging in the construction of "waste-free cities"; Zhang Shoufeng, Engineer of the National Marine Environment Monitoring Center, introduced the environmental pollution monitoring of China's marine environment. Engineer Zhang Shoufeng introduced the monitoring of marine waste and microplastics in China, and Associate Professor Xu Jiayi from East China Normal University reported on the development and demonstration of microplastic monitoring methods.


In the review session, Mr. Ellipse Larsen invited representatives from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the demonstration cities to comment on the project results respectively. All parties expressed their affirmation of the project results and believed that the project, as the first bilateral project in China to coordinate the prevention and control of plastic pollution on land and sea, provided positive contributions to China's ability to improve the management of marine waste plastics and microplastics; and agreed that both parties should continue to cooperate to further improve China's and even the global We also agreed that both sides should continue to cooperate to further improve the capacity of plastic pollution management in China and globally.
Finally, in his closing speech, Mr. Li Jinhui, Executive Director of APAS, thanked the Norwegian Ministry of Environment and the Embassy of Norway in China for their support and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment for their guidance in the implementation of the project, as well as the contributions of the participating organizations. He pointed out that there is a long way to go in the fight against plastic pollution and looked forward to continued cooperation and greater contribution to the global fight against plastic pollution.


The "Sino-Norwegian Cooperation - Capacity Building for Marine Waste Plastics and Microplastics Management" project was approved by the Ministry of Commerce and the Norwegian Embassy in China on December 29, 2019, through baseline research, environmental impact assessment, pollution monitoring technology and tools development, policy research, awareness awareness-raising and other activities to help China's marine waste plastics and microplastics pollution management. The Chinese participants of the project include the Technical Center for Solid Waste and Chemicals Management of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the National Marine Environment Monitoring Center, and the State Key Laboratory of Estuarine Coastal Science of East China Normal University; the Norwegian lead organization is the Norwegian Water Research Institute and the participating organization is the Norwegian Environment Agency.
Source: International Convention on Chemicals and Waste Regional Compliance

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