The Ministry of Planning and Development is encouraging citizens to register and join Trinidad and Tobago’s leg of the 2023 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). This year’s exercise is set for September 16 and while the Ministry of Planning and Development will be teaming up with the Environmental Management Authority to tackle the Foreshore along the Audrey Jeffers Highway, there are 30 to 40 sites all over Trinidad and Tobago being managed by the Caribbean Network for Integrated Rural Development (CNIRD) which coordinates the local chapter of the ICC. Citizens therefore have the option to join clean-up sites close to their communities.
The International Coastal Clean-up is a global exercise involving millions of volunteers all over the world to bring attention to the deleterious effects of marine pollution, especially plastic waste.
The Ministry of Planning and Development, which has responsibility for environmental management, through the Environmental Policy and Planning Division (EPPD), has been the largest local monetary sponsor over the past twenty years. Planning and Development Minister Pennelope Beckles made the commitment that the government will continue to support the CNIRD and the National Planning Committee of the ICC to ensure that the message of turning off pollution and plastic waste is spread locally, regionally and globally.
Minister Beckles emphasized that the plastic pollution trend has persisted over the years and so remains a national priority. Plastic bottles have topped the list of items collected in beach clean-up exercises over the years, followed by plastic bottle caps and plastic bags. Other waste items such as vehicle tyres, home appliances such as televisions and stoves, clothing articles and others have also been recorded in alarming numbers along the nation’s coastlines.
In order to stem the tide of marine waste, one major undertaking of the government is Trinidad and Tobago’s active engagement in the development of an International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution including in the marine environment. This action is being taken globally to tackle this pervasive issue. This future instrument has the potential to not only catalyse national environmental laws and policies governing the production, use and management of plastic products and its associated wastes in countries worldwide; but it can also provide the significant support and collaborative initiatives that are required to effectively implement such an instrument.
Trinidad and Tobago will continue to engage in this process, to ensure that our country’s circumstances are adequately considered throughout the development of this treaty while also contributing to the momentum required to see this massive undertaking become a reality.