Korea environment chief joins G20 move to reduce marine plastic waste
Cho Myung-rae at the G20 meeting in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, on June 16. Courtesy of the Ministry of Environment
By Ko Dong-hwan
Korean Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae joined G20 member countries in Japan that agreed at the weekend to work to reduce marine plastic litter.
The first G20 ministerial meeting to discuss the environment was held in Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture, where Cho welcomed “G20 Marine Plastic Litter Implementation Framework.” He promised that the Korean government would join global efforts to reduce marine plastic waste and micro plastics in oceans.
Cho and the world leaders agreed on the framework in light of the fourth session of the U.N. Environment Assembly in March and the Basel Convention COP-14 in Geneva in May that addressed pollution caused by micro plastics and single-use plastic products.
The member countries also agreed that sustainable growth will be infeasible without efficiently harnessing natural resources based not on linear but circular economies, sustainable resource management and “3R” (reduce, reuse and recycle).
The latest G20 invited ministers of energy as well, hosting the first joint environment-energy meeting since the first G20 meeting in 2008.
Cho, in the joint meeting on June 15, admitted that air pollutants including greenhouse gas and particulate matter mostly were the result of energy consumption and coal-powered electricity and that energy sources must change to renewable ones.
The joint session also agreed on “G20 Karuizawa Innovation Action Plan” to deal with environmental problems by knowledge sharing, innovative technologies and encouraging private investment.
Cho, as part of the latest G20, held separate meetings with Andrew Wheeler, the U.S. administrator of the environmental protection agency; Therese Coffey, British parliamentary under-secretary of state for environment and rural life opportunities; and Murat Kurum, Turkish Minister of Environment and Urbanization. The leaders agreed to work together to reduce air pollution and water-related issues.
At the Nagano meeting ― held two weeks ahead of the highly anticipated G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28-29 ― Cho urged the world to establish fair and sustainable climate change policies, and share knowledge from a diverse range of people, especially socially vulnerable groups.