“Life Below Water” in Asia - Holocene Impact Capital

Under the sea

In this month’s briefing, we are focusing on the 14^th Global Goal of “Life Below Water”. Diving a bit deeper, we will be focusing on “reducing marine pollution” which has only one indicator: the index of coastal eutrophication and floating plastic debris density. It means the rate of abnormal and harmful levels of algal bloom due to agricultural/wastewater discharge as well as levels of plastic pollution in the ocean.

So why should we care about oceans and how dirty they are?

For starters, in 2022, microplastics were found in fresh snow in Antarctica. In the same year microplastics were detected in 80% of human lungs in a scientific study. To say this is troubling would be a gross understatement.

To understand just how important the ocean is for our planet, our health, and our economies, consider the following figures below.

Not only is the ocean critical to the well-being of the planet, but it has also been playing an outsized role in supporting the stability of our planet’s climate by absorbing excess heat generated by burning fossil fuels. Unfortunately, humanity has not been treating it with the respect that it deserves.

Costs will not only be environmental

Without significant investments across the value chain from production through pollution, the costs of managing plastic waste are estimated to cost governments nearly US $670 billion from now until 2040. For businesses, it could add up to an additional US $100 billion.

How big is the problem?

As of 2021, over 17 million tonnes of plastic ended up in the oceans. To put that number into context, humanity has been polluting our oceans so much that if the world continues to operate as usual, in less than 30 years we will have as much plastic pollution by weight in the ocean as there are fish. Let that sink in.

So how did we get here?

To understand how we got into this mess, it is helpful to understand macro global plastic production trends. Our World in Data provides a handy breakdown of the issue from the production of plastic, all the way through how it enters our oceans: link. Below, Table 2 breaks down the steps at a high level and how of the 270 million tonnes of plastic a year, 17 million tonnes enters our oceans.

Are things getting better or worse?

It is fair to say that things are currently getting worse as the total amount of plastic pollution reaching oceans is adding up more in absolute terms. That said, when looking at the data, the world has been making significant progress in how it deals with the disposal methods of plastics. In Chart 1, you can see that in 1980 100% of plastic was discarded. In 2015, the discarded, incinerated and recycled rates were 55%, 25%, and 19.5% respectively. While these efforts are admirable, much more needs to be done.

In fact, the progress for Global Goal 14 has been so poor, that in 2020, the progress report for the Global Goals conceded that they are “not meeting the urgent need to protect this vast, fragile resource.”

What is happening in Asia?

According to the latest data available from the United Nations, Asia will miss Goal 14 entirely. As Chart 2 shows, the continent is the highest producer of plastic waste in the world, with Asia beating out the next closest region of Africa by a rate of 7x.

When looking on a country level, you can see that there is a wide discrepancy in how these countries are doing, as illustrated in Chart 3. For example, both India and China, the two largest countries on earth, account for 21% and 19.8% of global waste mismanagement. However, when remembering Table 2 above, it is important to understand that the management of waste is only Phase 4 of the plastic lifecycle. For Phase 5, ocean waste, a new picture emerges. When focusing exclusively at the end of the chain, the Philippines, at 7.17% is the worst offender on earth, whereas China accounts for ‘meagre’ 0.19% of plastic that enters our oceans.

For those that have spent time in the region, it would come as no surprise to learn that Southeast Asia in particular would be a hotspot for plastic pollution. These high rates are due to a combination of rapid rates of urbanisation in recent years, along with a growing middle class and an underdeveloped ecosystem of proper waste management infrastructure.

Way forward

As are all the greatest of challenges on earth, they are inherently multi-faceted and require a combination of coordinated efforts, cross-cutting solutions, and recognising the need sometimes for solutions sitting in each phase independently.

Coordination

A successful example of this is the launch of the Southeast Asia Regional Program on Combating Marine Plastics (SEA-MaP). It was founded with the objective of supporting 14 targets in the region including policy support, innovation, capacity building, outreach, and private sector engagement.

Direct Action

On top of that, SEA-MaP facilitated direct investments into country-level projects such as in Cambodia with a $60 million solid waste and plastic management improvement project. In a previous edition of our Global Goals briefings, we covered “Clean Water and Sanitation” in Oceania. In it, we explained the numerous associated health and economic related benefits that local communities near the coast can enjoy when investment is directed into inclusive and sustainable infrastructure.

At Holocene, we are working on numerous projects in the waste management and sustainable infrastructure space. If you would like to learn more about how Holocene can support your business, get in touch with our Chief Sustainability Officer Adam at [email protected].