Joint Statement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of Canada on Marine Litter and Plastics

2018-11-15

On the occasion of the third annual dialogue between H.E. Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China and H.E. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada in Singapore on November 14, 2018, both sides acknowledged that plastic pollution resulting from current practices have negative impacts on ocean health, biodiversity, economic sustainability, and potentially on human health. Both leaders recognized the importance of taking a sustainable lifecycle approach to the management of plastics to reduce the threat to the environment and, particularly, to reduce marine litter in oceans.

Recalling the December 2017 Canada-China Joint Leaders Statement on Climate Change and Clean Growth and acknowledging the domestic efforts towards achieving the targets set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, both sides committed to move towards more resource-efficient management of plastics across their entire life-cycle which will improve efficiency while decreasing environmental impacts.

Both countries endeavor to:

 l  Reduce the unnecessary use of single-use plastics, taking into account the full environmental impacts of alternatives.

l  Support collaboration with partners across the supply chain and with other governments, and advance efforts to address marine plastic litter.

l  Increase domestic capacity to prevent plastics leakage into the marine environment from all sources, and enable their collection, reuse, recycling, recovery, and / or environmentally-sound disposal.

l  Abide fully by the principles set out in the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.

l  Engage fully in the international processes for addressing marine litter and plastics pollution.

l  Support information sharing, including raising public awareness and education to reduce use of single-use plastics and plastic waste generation.

l  Promote investment, research, and the development of innovative technological and social solutions across the lifecycle of plastics to prevent marine plastic waste.

l  Guide the development and appropriate use of new plastic materials and alternatives to ensure they are not harmful to health nor to the environment.

l  Reduce the use of plastic microbeads in cosmetic and personal care consumer products and address other sources of micro-plastics.

 Both countries also agreed to forge a partnership to combat marine litter from plastic waste by:

 l  Facilitating the sharing of best practices between coastal cities in Canada and China in preventing pollution from plastics.

l  Cooperating on marine micro-plastics monitoring technology and research on ecological environmental effects.

l  Conducting research on the control technology of marine plastic waste (including micro-plastics), and demonstration projects.

l  Sharing experiences and best practices in consumer education and community engagement.

l  Collaborating in relevant multilateral fora ‎to promote awareness and action to reduce marine litter and plastics waste‎.

Source: https://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2018/11/14/joint-statement-between-government-canada-and-government-peoples-republic-china