Reducing ocean plastic pollution
© Jürgen Freund / WWF
Grieg Foundation have entered an ambitious collaboration with WWF to halve the littering from three ports in the Philippines by 2023.
Plastic pollution is one the world’s fastest growing environmental crisis. It is estimated that more than a third of our plastic waste could end up in nature. The challenges are especially demanding in Southeast Asia, where urban areas contribute a large share of the litter that threatens our oceans.
Grieg Foundation has partnered up with WWF-Norway on a project which aims to reduce plastic pollution from three large port cities in the Philippines by 2023.
Grieg Foundation owns 25 percent of the Grieg Group which has long maritime traditions. The group runs global businesses in several ocean-based sectors and can contribute valuable insights to understand the obstacles we need to overcome in order to mitigate the crisis.
Innovative solutions
The Philippines is one of the largest global contributors to ocean plastic pollution. The challenges are enormous for a country where a large part of its inhabitants relies on fishing for livelihoods and nutrition.
The goal of Grieg Foundation and WWF-Norway is to involve local and global actors in the development of innovative solutions.
The project will kick off by mapping the scope of plastic pollution in cooperation with port authorities and organizations tasked with waste management in the three chosen ports.
Global knowledge sharing
One of the goals of the project is also to share experiences and solutions. The project aims to document the port waste management models to enable a scaling up of the solutions in other ports in the Philippine and around the world.
"This cooperation will drive innovation, contribute to sustainable development, and benefit nature. We are looking forward to working with the Grieg Group on solving the plastic crisis. With the support from Grieg Foundation and know-how from companies in the Grieg Group, we will work with WWF-Philippines to show how port cities can work on the problem,” says Karoline Andaur, CEO of WWF-Norway.
"We have put aside considerable funds to this project. This project is part of our commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals protecting life in the oceans and sustainable management of our marine resources. We hope that WWF can contribute greatly to find solutions for the plastic crisis. We are especially proud that the Grieg Group companies wish to contribute with their cutting-edge expertise in this important project," says chairwoman Elna-Kathrine Grieg in Grieg Foundation.
“We hope that WWF can contribute greatly to find solutions for the plastic crisis. We are especially proud that the Grieg Group companies wish to contribute with their cutting-edge expertise in this important project.”
— Elna-Kathrine Grieg, Chair of the Board of Grieg Foundation
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