The 10th Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development was held in United Nations Conference Center, Bangkok, Thailand, 27-31 March 2023. This forum is an annual, inclusive intergovernmental forum to present and update progress of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the regional level.

Held on March 29, 2023, the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Calapan, Legazpi, Manila, and Ormoc, represented the Philippines in the side event discussing local and national actions on plastic pollution, ‘Catalysing Local and National Action on Plastic Pollution to Achieve Regional Priorities and Global Goals in South-East and East Asia’.

The City of Calapan shared featured practices on how our local waste diverters prepare the city to support the new national Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law. The role of waste diverters is crucial in mapping out the city’s waste diversion chain and designing a plastic waste diversion certification system that would apply for standards for waste recording, accounting and auditing as the city’s initiative in addressing marine plastic pollution. Calapan City Mayor Marilou Flores-Morillo also appealed for technical support to the ongoing oil spill crisis impacting critical marine biodiversity areas off the coast of Mindoro.