CONCEPT NOTE

National Public Consultation on the Philippines’ National Plan of Action (NPOA) on

Marine Litter

The Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR), through the various offices of
its Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), other
national and local government agencies, the multi-agency National Solid Waste Management
Commission (NSWMC), and partners from the business sector, nongovernment and civil society
organizations and other stakeholders has been involved in developing the Philippines’ NPOA on
Marine Litter.
Marine litter, sometimes referred to as marine debris, is defined as “any persistent, manufactured or
processed solid material discarded, disposed of or abandoned in the marine and coastal
environment”. It consists of items that have been made or used by people and deliberately discarded
into the sea or rivers or on beaches; brought indirectly to the sea with rivers, sewage, storm water or
winds; or accidentally lost, including material lost at sea in bad weather.
The global transboundary nature of marine litter has been emphasized with the gyres—large systems
of circulating ocean currents in the world’s oceans—and the presence of floating debris, notably
plastics and other non-degradable materials. Public awareness on its impacts on marine life have
been raised with the growing number of whales and fishes washing up ashore with autopsy reports
of gastric shocks from ingesting the litter, including the cases similarly suffered by migratory birds.
Mangrove forests and coral reefs have also found to be negatively affected.
It is premised that majority of the uncollected waste is burned, buried, self-managed, and littered or
illegally dumped with high potential for leaking into the marine environment. Waste collection also
does not mean no leakage at all. Some end up in waterways during the process of collection and
transport. Many illegal dumpsites also have not followed proper site identification procedures and
their proximity to bodies of water or flood-prone areas may render its waste bodies vulnerable to
waste leakage into the marine environment.
Despite MARPOL and other policies, some sea-based sources of waste could be caused by
operational or accidental causes of direct waste dumping or discharge. Even abandoned, lost or
otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) from commercial fishing vessels are causes of concern
due to entanglement of marine animals such as turtles and dolphins.
There are also domestic and international market and economic forces, legislations, design of
products and services, urbanization and consumerism patterns, regional cooperation, and human
behavior and convenience factors that affect sustainable consumption and production (SCP).
Considering that marine litter is a complex and multi-dimensional problem with significant
implications for the environment, economy, and human health and safety, there is no single solution
to the marine litter problem. Marine litter is a complex issue that requires actions at many levels and
places as it covers the whole chain in which waste is produced, used, managed, and ending up in the
marine environment. Cooperation is needed to address this; Sustainability of actions depend on the
capacity and will to veer away from the traditional practice of take-make-use-dispose (linear
economy) to getting everybody to fully appreciate the value of every resource and create systems-
wide approaches across value chains to let that value (resources) stay in the economy for the longest
possible time and not end up as waste in disposal sites or seas.
The multi-stakeholder participatory process ensures that NPOA is a product of as many relevant
stakeholders as possible. The process is led by the DENR. The first DENR-wide meeting was
carried out on August 6-7, 2019, in Quezon City for DENR bureaus and offices to level off on the
different considerations in preparing the NPOA. BMB, in close coordination with EMB, organized
the workshop to lead to a common understanding on marine litter issues, consider the various
international agreements and declarations where DENR is Philippine government representative to,
compare baseline studies and possible outlines for the NPOA, and seek top management guidance
on the scope, baselines, targets, and process in developing the NPOA. Personnel from EMB, BMB,
Foreign-Assisted and Special Projects Service (FASPS), DENR Central Office, and DENR National
Capital Region (NCR) participated in the workshop.
Following the levelling off workshop and with guidance from DENR management, it was agreed to
hold the first and second multi-stakeholder consultation (MSC) workshops to draft the NPOA,
specifically to identify the issues, gains, remaining challenges and proposed solutions/actions to the
multi-dimensional marine litter issue. The MSCs shall be held on September 26-27, and October 15-
16, 2019, respectively, wherein the workshops shall be funded by DENR-EMB.
A national public consultation (PubCon) shall consequently be held to allow more stakeholders to
provide comments and suggestions into the working NPOA document that would be primarily
prepared during the two MSCs. Slated on October 29, 2019, the PubCon is proposed to be funded
by DENR-BMB.
The workshop flow shall follow the outline and contents of the NPOA working draft to allow
participants time to provide inputs, which later be considered by the technical working group for
inclusion into the final draft of the NPOA. Below is a tentative agenda for the said PubCon.

Tentative AGENDA

Time Activity / Topic Discussant

08:00a Opening ceremonies
 Prayer and National Anthem
 Welcome Remarks  TBA, USec,
Undersecretary, DENR
 TBA, EMB-DENR
 TBA, BMB-DENR
 Introduction of Participants  Facilitated by
 Levelling off Expectations SWMD-EMB/CMD-BMB
8:30a Introductory Presentations
 Marine litter issues in the Philippines and globally  TBA
 Video or presentation on marine litter impacts
 Time Activity / Topic Discussant
 Initiatives at the local, national and international levels
 Process for developing the NPOA on marine litter  TBA
9:15a Presentation of the Latest Draft of the NPOA (Part 1)
 Overall Outline of the Strategy Document  TBA
 Issues and Concerns in Marine Litter
 Gains, Remaining Challenges, and Opportunities
10:00a Open Forum

10:15a AM Break
10:30a Presentation of the Latest Draft of the NPOA (Part 2)
 Actions/Measures  TBA
 Action cluster/category and corresponding sub-activities
 Gant Chart: timeline, resource requirements, responsible
offices, risks and assumptions, indicators, etc.
 Baselines and Targets, and Co-Benefits, if any
 Results of action assessment / prioritization exercises
11:45a Open Forum

12:00n LUNCH
1:00p Gathering and Documentation of Comments and
Suggestions (Part 1)
 Overall
 Objectives
 Goals/Targets, if any
 Outline
 General Content
 Action Plan per source category
 Preventing and reducing marine litter from land-based
sources
 Preventing and reducing marine litter from sea-based
sources
 Management of the amount and impact of accumulated
marine litter on shorelines, in benthic habitats, and within
the national territory of the Philippines and its exclusive
economic zones and areas of responsibility
3:00p PM Break
3:15p Gathering and Documentation of Comments and
Suggestions (Part 2)
 Thematic Strategies
 Policy support and planning
 Monitoring and assessment of marine litter
 Time Activity / Topic Discussant
 Activities supporting the implementation of the NPOA and
other international agreements and regional initiatives
 Research, Innovation, and Capacity Building
 Public Awareness, Education, and Outreach
 Private Sector/Stakeholder Engagement
 Other Considerations
 Institutional arrangements
 Analysis and prioritization of actions
 Monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and verification
04:45p Closing Ceremonies