Towards a Pollution-Free Tonga

05th December, 2017 Nairobi-December 4^th 2017: The Third session of the UN Environment Assembly was officially opened today at the UN office under the overarching theme of pollution.  The UN Environment Assembly is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment.

The UN Environment Assembly has the universal membership of 193 UN Member States, UN organizations, specialized agencies, inter-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector.  The aim of the Assembly is to deliver a number of tangible commitments to end the pollution of our air, land, waterways, and oceans, and to safely manage our chemicals and waste.  These will include the following:

• A political declaration on pollution, linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, to signal that humanity can work together to eliminate the threat of pollution and the destruction of our planet;
• Resolutions and decisions adopted by member states to address specific dimensions of pollution;
• Voluntary commitments by Governments, private sector entities and civil society organizations to clean up the planet; and
• The #BeatPollution Pledge, a collection of individual commitments to clean up the planet.

Following the opening plenary, Tonga participated in a panel discussion on Marine Litter Solutions in Small Island Developing States (SIDs) together with panel members from Antigua and Barbuda, Marshall Islands, Jamaica and Seychelles focusing on challenges associated with plastic management, due in part to insufficient quantities of plastic waste for recycling infrastructure, limited space for land-filling and therefore, a heightened risk of waste becoming marine litter.

Head of Delegation, Dr Tevita Suka Mangisi, Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Tonga to the United Nations is expected to deliver Tonga’s national statement at the Assembly plenary on Tuesday the 5^th of December.  Dr Mangisi is joined by Ms Mafile’o Masi, Assistant Director, Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications, Ms Rose Lesley Kautoke, Legal Advisor, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Tonga to the United Nations and Ms ‘Ana Loiloi Fekau, Environment Advisor, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Tonga to the United Nations at the Assembly.  The Assembly will conclude on the 6^th of December 2017.

ENDS

Issued by the: Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change & Communications.