Norway’s Minister of Climate and Environment Vidar Helgesen called for international cooperation to reduce the problem of marine pollution and plastic debris in the oceans.
“Plastic pollution is one of today's biggest environmental problems. I urge the EU to take global leadership in the fight against plastic waste in the sea and to come to the UN conference with concrete contributions to the international fight against marine pollution," said Minister of Climate and Environment Mr. Vidar Helgesen.
Together with Indonesia, Mr. Helgesen will lead the first partnership dialogue of The Ocean Conference, dedicated to addressing marine pollution. Many of the world's countries will be gathered in the United Nations headquarters in New York to discuss these issues.
Norway has launched a new aid program for developing countries to combat plastic pollution. 100 million NOK (appx 11.5 million USD) will among other things, be used for better waste management, so that plastic does not end up in the ocean.
"Norway has a lot of plastic waste along our coast, waste that eventually breaks down to micro-plastic. Much of this comes from other countries, and hence we need international cooperation,” said Mr. Helgesen.
It is necessary both to prevent and clean up to reduce marine pollution. The most important is good waste management, both nationally and in the rest of the world. Animals in the ocean die because they eat or get stuck in plastic waste. Plastics are broken down into small plastic particles that can be eaten by smaller animals in the sea.
