Hanoi, 12^th April 2023 – Leaders and representatives from over 30 high-level government ministries and departments, embassies and international development partners, domestic and international enterprises, associations and organizations gathered to continue addressing plastic waste and plastic pollution in Viet Nam. The 2^nd Leadership Board meeting was another key milestone moment ahead of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee (INC2) where global plastic pollution targets will become binding. Preparation and enhancing Viet Nam’s capacity will be an enabling prerequisite.

Three key interventions in Viet Nam are needed to support Viet Nam’s national targets of a 50 percent reduction in plastic litter leakage into the ocean by 2025 and a 75 percent reduction by 2030. These include reduction and substitution of plastics, significantly expanding economically viable recycling, and expanding solid waste collection coverage, safe disposal and prevention of littering.

The interventions are identified in the Viet Nam Plastic Action Assessment and Roadmap Considerations report, which was commissioned by the NPAP with support from the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) hosted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and was launched online prior to the meeting. The Report sets out recommended actions to be undertaken by the members of the multi-stakeholder NPAP in support of Viet Nam’s National Program for Strengthening Plastic Waste Management and National Action Plan for Management of Marine Plastic Litter by 2030.

Chairing the NPAP Leadership Board meeting, Vice Minister Vo Tuan Nhan of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment affirmed that “the meeting today is an opportunity to build and strengthen partnerships, connect public-private actors and the community in order to share the experiences, insights in plastic waste management, transforming challenges into opportunities and providing motivation for Viet Nam to build the circular and knowledge economy through high technology initiatives to eradicate plastic leakage”.

Ms. Kristin Hughes, Resource Circularity and Global Plastic Action Partnership Director, member of WEF Executive Committee emphasized “the great potential of the multi-stakeholder NPAP, under MONRE’s leadership, in bringing together government, industry, civil society and academia working side-by-side to jointly deliver Viet Nam’s ambitious goals on tackling plastic pollution.”

Mrs. Ramla Khalidi, Resident Representative of UNDP Viet Nam, also highly appreciated “The leadership of the Government in setting out ambitious targets on reducing and managing plastic waste through a circular economy approach, as set out in the National Program for Strengthening Plastic Waste Management and the National Action Plan for Management of Marine Plastic Litter by 2030. Achieving these targets will only be possible with our effective, joint and coordinated efforts and innovation”.

The Leadership Board meeting included a presentation of the achievements of the Viet Nam NPAP during the last two years and the 2023 NPAP work plan, including the proposal to establish key Taskforces to promote improved policies, gender and social inclusion, innovation and financing sources for plastic actions.

Prior to the Leadership Board meeting, NPAP members joined the workshop “Strengthening Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration to Accelerate Plastic Circular Economy in Viet Nam’, which discussed the current situation of plastic waste in Viet Nam and identified key activities that are needed, including improving consumers’ awareness on sustainable packaging, promoting Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), green finance for recycling projects, developing local capacity in plastic waste and solid waste management and addressing gender and social inclusion issues.

About the Global Plastic Action Partnership and the Viet Nam National Plastic Action Partnership

Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP)

The Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) is a multistakeholder platform hosted by the World Economic Forum that aims to shape a more sustainable and inclusive world through the eradication of plastic pollution. Through its impartial global and national platforms, it is uniquely equipped to bring together public, private, and civil society leaders to develop joint solutions to the plastic pollution crisis that are both pragmatic and ambitious. GPAP has launched National Plastic Action Partnerships in Viet Nam, Indonesia, Ghana, and Nigeria, and continues expanding the partnership in Ecuador, Pakistan, Maharashtra state (India), and Mexico City (Mexico) and serving as multi-stakeholder platforms to coordinate and accelerate action and impact on plastic waste pollution at the national level.

National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP)

Established under the partnership agreement between the World Economic Forum (WEF)/Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) and Viet Nam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), the Viet Nam National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) is a nationally led multi-stakeholder platform that enables collaboration between the government and other vital partners to turn plastic waste and pollution commitments into actions.

Officially launched on 23 December 2020, Viet Nam NPAP has worked based on three strategic pillars: 1/Convening stakeholders and curating conversations; 2/Generating insights and action roadmaps; and 3/Catalyzing coordinated action to scale solutions in plastic issues. These three pillars shape the development of key performance indicators and measuring and evaluating the Viet Nam NPAP’s impact on 6 focused areas: 1/Informing policy; 2/Unlocking finance; 3/Transforming behavior; 4/Boosting innovation; 5/Harmonizing metrics; 6/Promoting equity and inclusivity.

From August 2022, Viet Nam NPAP Secretariat is officially hosted by UNDP Viet Nam, which operates and leads the support to NPAP’s activities to provide an insight for the general agenda, facilitate meaningful plastic-related initiatives towards the national targets in addressing the plastic waste and plastic pollution, shaping a more sustainable circular economy in Viet Nam.