Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
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The question arises from the need to address plastic waste in developing nations.
What steps his Department is taking to tackle plastic use in developing countries?
My Department is providing expertise and funding innovative pilot projects in Uganda and Ghana to improve recycling rates and waste collection. The focus areas include fisheries, pollution including plastic pollution, climate change and marine protected areas.
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Q2
Direct Answer
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The question addresses a statistic that plastic pieces will outnumber fish in the sea by 2020.
Given that 2020 is set to become the first year in which the pieces of plastic in our seas outnumber fish, will the Secretary of State update the House on the Government's plans for the UK to play its part in tackling that shocking statistic by means of, for instance, their new Blue Planet fund?
The Government have committed £500 million to the Blue Planet Fund to help developing countries manage their marine environment. The fund will run from April next year, focusing on fisheries, pollution including plastic pollution, climate change and marine protected areas for five years.
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Q3
Direct Answer
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Young students in Workington have written a book about the impact of plastic on marine life, particularly whales.
In my constituency, people care about the future of our seas and oceans. Young students at Ashfield Infant and Nursery School, Holme St Cuthbert School and St Michael's Nursery and Infant School have written a book about Driggsby, the young fin whale who sadly died on a Cumbrian beach, a victim of plastic poisoning. What is the Department doing to rid the world's oceans of plastic waste?
About 70% of the litter in the ocean is plastic, and the Government recognise the need for action through our joint leadership with Vanuatu of the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance. We are supporting technical assistance for countries committed to tackling marine pollution.
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Q4
Direct Answer
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93% of waste in the poorest countries is burnt or discarded on roads, open land or waterways.
In the poorest countries, 93% of waste is burnt or discarded on roads or open land or in waterways. Will the Secretary of State expand on his answer to the first question, and tell us what he is doing to develop a system of improved waste collection while also encouraging recycling in many of those countries?
In Uganda and Ghana, my Department is providing support for pilot projects. We are working with businesses to improve waste management and increase recycling. In Uganda, we are working with the Kampala plastics recycling partnership.
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Q5
Partial Answer
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Most plastics in the seas come from abandoned fishing gear and nets.
The Dutch non-governmental organisation The Ocean Cleanup has discovered that most plastics in the seas come from abandoned fishing gear and nets. Does the Secretary of State agree that assisting fishermen in developing countries is one way to eliminate that waste?
I have talked about the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance, but at the 2019 United Nations General Assembly the Prime Minister announced the global ocean alliance of countries which aims to protect at least 30% of the global ocean within marine protected areas by 2030.
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Agreement on assisting fishermen in developing countries
Talks About Other Initiatives
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