“No longer a choice”: Indian Ocean Commission declares plastics circularization pledge

29 Sep 2023 --- African Indian Ocean nations have issued a declaration pledging to create a circular economy for plastics throughout the region. The countries aim to reduce ocean plastic packaging waste on their shorelines significantly in the next decade.

The five member states of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) – Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion and Seychelles – aim to encourage other governments to take action to reduce plastic pollution at the local and regional levels. 

According to the World Bank, approximately 15 million metric tons of plastic end up in the Indian Ocean annually. This contaminates the ocean with a trillion pieces of plastic, making it the world’s second most polluted ocean after the North Pacific.

The Mauritius Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, Kavydass Ramano, advocates for a fast path toward achieving a circular economy for the developing islands.

“The transition to a circular and resilient economy is no longer a choice, but a necessity, given our vulnerability as a Small Island Developing State,” he says.

Achieving a blue economy
The islands’ ministers met from September 18-21 in Port-Louis, Mauritius, to discuss waste management and how to move the nations toward circularity.

The IOC agreed upon a declaration to develop a circular economy in their nations. At the conference, the ministers adopted “The Declaration of the Ministers and High representatives of the Island States of Africa and the Indian Ocean for the development of the Circular Economy.”

The declaration implements regional action plans for preventing, reducing and controlling plastic pollution. The objective is to promote circular value chains by recovering plastic waste alongside education and awareness about the circular economy. The countries will also mobilize funding and partnerships to promote a blue economy.

The nation’s leaders discussed how to further its efforts in the blue economy, which the World Bank defines as a “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystem.”

“This is quite an important meeting, as now the blue economy is quite important, especially in Seychelles, where the protection of the environment is one of its main concerns,” says Gilles Loir-Mongazon, executive secretary at Association of Cities and Communities of the Indian Ocean (AVCOI).

The meeting was organized by the AVCOI and the International Association of Francophone Mayors. The AVCOI’s central role is to drive concrete projects for local development and regional integration in the Indian Ocean region.

In July, Mauritius published its roadmap and action plan for a circular economy, which set a target to increase its recycling rate of plastic packaging from 3% to 50% by 2033.

The stark increase in recycling rate targets poses significant challenges, but Ramano hopes Mauritius will achieve this goal with support from its IOC partners. Ramano names lack of funding as a challenge the nation faces and urges the IOC to support the mobilization of financing from relevant bodies and cooperation agreements with other regional and international organizations.

By Sabine Waldeck