International partners join efforts in combating plastic pollution

Accordingly, international partners committed to assessing their current office practices related to single-use plastic, and instituting operational changes to minimize their plastic waste footprint. All signatories also agreed to engage their staff in reducing plastic waste and to encourage their partners to adopt low- or no plastic waste-emitting options.

By taking this joint action, international partners in Vietnam seek to act as change agents in reducing plastic pollution and raising awareness about its negative effects on humans, animals and the environment.

The campaign, spearheaded by the Embassy of Canada in Vietnam, aims to raise awareness on the negative impacts of plastic pollution, while advocating for changes at the behavioural, institutional, and policy levels, expecting to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated in Vietnam.

The signing ceremony was a highlight of the Plastic Pollution Advocacy Campaign, which is a joint campaign involving embassies and international partners working in support of Vietnam’s sustainable development.

After the signing ceremony, a roundtable on plastic pollution was held, in which policy makers, business leaders, academia and environmental activists discussed challenges in reducing plastic waste and recommended approaches to effectively address plastic pollution.

For the past months, 22 embassies and international partners have been actively engaged in this multi-pronged campaign. Another key element of this campaign has been constructive dialogue with Vietnamese leaders to discuss policy options that will have long-term positive effects on plastic pollution in Vietnam.

In addition, an online campaign titled “CountdownPlastic” has been running on the social media platforms of the Code of Conduct signatories to call for public action on reducing single-use plastic in people’s daily lives and work-places./.