PH Permanent Mission Takes the Lead in Finding Sustainable Solutions to Climate Change and the Plastic Pollution Crisis at WTO Public Forum in Geneva

Poster of the WTO Public Forum (photo from Geneva WTO)

GENEVA 14 September 2023 – The Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the WTO is looking towards the WTO Public Forum as an opportunity to highlight progress the country and other partners are making in finding sustainable solutions to address climate change and the plastic pollution crisis. The Philippine-proposal, “Innovative Partnerships with the Private Sector to Tackle Plastics Pollution”, was selected to form part of the WTO Public Forum, which will be held from 12-15 September 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Philippine-organized panel will be keynoted by Mr. Jonas R. Leones, DENR Undersecretary for Policy, Planning and International Affairs.

Undersecretary Leones will also keynote other events at the Public Forum, including sessions organized by the World Wildlife Forum (WWF) on the “Biodiversity Crisis: Can WTO Support a Nature Positive Future” and an E3G Panel on the “The Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate: Developing a Transformative and Inclusive Agenda.” The Philippines is a founding Member of both the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People and Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate. Ambassador Manuel A.J. Teehankee, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the WTO, will also be a panelist at a U.S. Semiconductors Industry Association (SIA) panel on “Leveraging Global Semiconductor Trade for Sustainability: Powering Sustainability and Net Zero through Global Trade and the WTO.”  

Ambassador Teehankee is expected to highlight the key role multilateral trade rules play in our economic development, particularly how the Information Technology Agreements (ITA) 1 and 2 have benefited the growth of the semiconductors and electronics sector as well as knowledge-based services. The SIA panel will examine how further integration can unlock added benefits to the global energy transition, through increased energy efficiency and uptake of renewable technologies.

At the Philippine event, Undersecretary Leones will be joined by leading innovators in the sustainable economy, including:

• Nanette Medved-Po, Founder and Executive Chairperson of the Plastics Credit Exchange (www.pcxmarkets);
• Dr. Carmen Hijosa, Chief Creative and Innovation Officer of Ananas Anam (www.ananas- anam.com);
• Mr. David Cutler, Co-Founder and CEO of Fortuna Cools (www.fortunacools.com); and
• Mr. Pierre-Yves Paslier, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Notpla (www.notpla.com).

Nanette Medved-Po founded PCX (PCX Markets & PCX Solutions) in the Philippines, which was first in the world to establish a Plastic Pollution Reduction Standard and create a fully traceable offset platform, serving a global ecosystem of partners that recover, process, or recycle plastic waste through programs that improve livelihood, scale social impact, and reduce flow of plastic pollution into nature.

Dr. Carmen Hijosa, Founder and Chief Creative and Innovation Officer of Ananas Anam Ltd., developed Piñatex® - a natural plant-based material made from pineapple leaf fiber. The journey of Piñatex® began when she realized the toxic impact of mass leather production while consulting in the Philippines. Driven to find an alternative solution, Carmen undertook a PhD at the Royal College of Art (UK) to develop Piñatex and continues to work with local partners in the Philippines to develop a vibrant new industry that is socially, environmentally and economically responsible.

David Cutler founded Fortuna Cools as a graduate student, working with classmates and local communities to reduce waste and improve supply chains in the Philippines. Today David and his colleagues are commercializing bio-based materials for outdoor gear and commercial packaging across Asia and the West. David is sourcing materials straight from coconut farms in the Philippines and Fortuna Cools has developed a consumer cooler, Nutshell Coolers for the US market and has introduced insulated packaging ("Fortuna Liners") to vegetable, fish, and dairy businesses in the Philippines.

Pierre Pierre Paslier, a London-based Innovation Design Engineer, co-founded Notpla, focused on eco-friendly packaging. Currently, Pierre is Notpla's Co-CEO, committed to solving the global plastic crisis with their seaweed-based packaging. Notpla secured Prince William’s £1,000,000 Earthshot Prize in 2022.

During a recent visit to Manila, Ambassador Teehankee had the chance to sit down with Ms. Medved-Po to discuss public-private engagement in confronting the national plastics crisis. Ambassador Teehankee noted that the government is examining a plastics tax to disincentivize the use of unnecessary and single-use plastics and efforts are underway to strengthen the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility Act. With negotiations ongoing for a Global Plastics Treaty, Ambassador Teehankee stated “the WTO Public Forum provides us with an opportune window to hear from the private sector, and particularly start-up innovators who are pushing the envelope in terms of materials sourcing, sustainable design, and market-based mechanisms. We need to hear from businesses to understand what support they need from governments and what barriers they must confront in scaling up, which alongside reduction and waste management efforts, will be key to solving the plastics crisis. The Philippines, with its rich endowment of sustainable materials, is well-positioned to be a first mover in creating new textile and packaging industries anchored on natural and environmentally-friendly plastics substitutes.”

With respect to the Philippine EPR law, Ms. Medved-Po noted that there must be a clear, open, and transparent communication and feedback mechanism between government and stakeholders, especially during the first few years of implementation of the EPR law. Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) may be tapped by the government to consolidate feedback and cascade the procedures, clarificatory guidelines, and monitoring mechanisms for implementation. Fast tracking National EPR Portals and registries may also further awareness and information, as well as provide ease in feedback and monitoring.

PCX has valuable experience in engaging with local communities. Ms. Medved-Po noted that “vulnerable communities in developing countries are often affected by a huge amount of mismanaged waste and small municipal budgets, and require high investments into waste management infrastructure. It is estimated that at least 15–20 million people globally are working in the marginalized, informal waste sector. The reason that we don’t see much glass, paper, or metal polluting our environment, is because the market has assigned a value to these materials, therefore communities have incentive to collect. Using the same principle, if value is assigned to plastic waste, this will incentivize the collection of previously undesirable and polluting materials. Once sufficient scale is realized in collection - in concert with governments introducing EPR with clear standards for design, use of recycled content, and post consumer responsibility - should spur the  much  needed  investments  in  infrastructure  and  the  ecosystems  to  support  them.”

She further highlighted the importance of market-based solutions such as “plastic credits, which place an economic value on plastic waste that can help to lift up the informal waste sector and communities, as well as incentivize capital investment in long-term solutions. Further, as women represent the majority of the informal waste sector, often working at the lower end of the value chain (e.g. in waste picking and separating at landfill sites), Plastic credit schemes can also seek to eliminate existing gender inequalities and help increase the socio economic empowerment of women engaged in informal waste management activities. PCX has also introduced the concept of intergovernmental compliance blocks for regional collaboration and capacity sharing. This is premised on the fact that not all countries are equally placed to handle different waste streams. It would not necessitate that a country geolocates their entire value chain immediately while it is not yet economically viable. Compliance blocks offer the opportunity for countries to work together on a regional level and share responsibility, while offering economic benefits to countries which are able to process waste from their neighbors.”

The WTO Public Forum is the WTO’s largest yearly outreach event and includes the in-person participation of more than 2,000 representatives from civil society, academia, business, government, international organizations and the media. The 2023 edition will focus on the theme “It is Time for Action” with the following three sub-themes:

• The role of the services sector in sustainable trade;
• Inclusive policies for the advancement of green trade; and
• Digitalization as a tool for the greening of supply chains.

END

Four innovative companies will be presenting solutions to the plastic crisis, including highlighting the use of sustainable materials such as coconut fiber, pineapple fiber and seaweed.

Ambassador Teehankee with Ms. Nanette Medved-Po (photo from Geneva WTO)

For more information, visit https://wtopm.dfa.gov.ph/.