On the Road to Zero Waste. Successes and Lessons from Around the World
- Zero waste -
Zero waste is both a goal and a plan of action. The goal is to ensure resource recovery and protect scarce natural resources by ending waste disposal in incinerators, dumps, and landfills. The plan encompasses waste reduction, composting, recycling and reuse, changes in consumption habits, and industrial redesign. But just as importantly, zero waste is a revolution in the relationship between waste and people. It is a new way of thinking that aims to safeguard the health and improve the lives of everyone who produces, handles, works with, or is affected by waste—in other words, all of us.
GAIA Asia Pacific, in partnership with Mother Earth Foundation (MEF) Philippines, has been conducting a capacity-building workshop to capacitate members of the network and government officials to implement a community Zero Waste program since 2017.
Called Zero Waste Academy (ZWA), the workshop is an immersive 10-day course aimed at capacitating members and other stakeholders on how to implement a Zero Waste program in their respective cities and communities. Putting emphasis on experiential learning, the course provides a well-thought out mix of lectures, hands-on exercises, site visits and community engagements, demo-sessions, and networking opportunities.
Thus far, five in-person ZWAs have been conducted from 2017 to 2019.
In 2020-2022, GAIA Asia Pacific and MEF conducted other iterations of the academy, albeit virtually because of the lockdowns imposed by governments. Yaksa Pelestari Bumi Berkelanjutan (YPBB) Bandung likewise held other Zero Waste Academies on their own to support AZWI members in implementing Zero Waste in their communities.
As in any workshop, an essential measure of success of the workshop is how the graduates apply in their own contexts the lessons and skills they gained from their participation. GAIA Asia Pacific is immensely proud that five years since the first in-person ZWA, and three years since the last one, many of our graduates continued to champion Zero Waste in their own communities and countries, and many of them even spearheaded innovative and impactful Zero Waste initiatives and/or led campaigns such as plastic-free and anti-waste-to-energy (WtE) campaigns.
This publication is an initial attempt to document our graduates' work to understand the academy's impact on their work and their communities. This volume is not exhaustive — our intention is to periodically check on our graduates to celebrate their success in their own communities.
May you be inspired by our initial offering. Our graduates, without a doubt, are making the world a better place. But do not take our word for it; read the pages of our publication and see for yourself!
Environmentalists worldwide are stepping up their efforts to call businesses and global leaders to phase out single-use plastic (SUP) to address plastic pollution and the climate crises. Onsite and online actions are organized in key cities around the world on January 6 to mount the Refuse Single Use Day.
Led by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Zero Waste youth, and their allies expressed their demand to eliminate the production of SUPs. Around 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year, yet less than 10 percent are recycled. Continued plastic production and consumption heats up global climate temperatures, depletes our resources, intoxicates the environment and creates public health issues, feeds incinerators, and chokes landfills and oceans. The most problematic form of plastic is SUP meant for one-time use such as cups, cutleries, bottle drinks, plastic stirrers and plastic bags.
Refuse Single Use Day is the opening of International Zero Waste Month (IZWM) as GAIA together with its members and allies, doubled down on their commitment to creating a global movement that puts an end to waste pollution. The IZWM is a historic moment for the movement, built on its decades-long campaign to design and manage products and to avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste materials.
Back in 2014, then Philippine President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III designated the month of January of every year as National Zero Waste Month through Presidential Proclamation No. 760. The observance also coincides with the signing anniversary of the Philippine Republic Act 9003 known as the “Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000”. Both efforts were envisioned to address waste pollution.
Fast forward to 2020, GAIA Asia Pacific led the Zero Waste Month celebration in the region culminating in a global celebration this 2023.
Kicking the month-long celebration of Zero Waste wins, the 1st ever Refuse Single-Use Day is envisioned to galvanize leaders to declare a phase-out of SUPs and craft an ambitious Global Plastics Treaty. Refuse Single-Use Day is designed to coincide with the IZWM to underscore the importance of paving the path towards a Zero Waste future.
With the theme Zero Waste to Zero Emissions, this month-long celebration hopes to highlight the connection between waste and climate, and highlight proven Zero Waste solutions as powerful climate action. Implementing Zero Waste strategies can reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from waste of up to an average of 84%.
This Refuse Single-Use Day, GAIA Asia Pacific is posing the challenge not only to individuals but also to communities, organizations, and institutions to take the pledge and take action for the environment. It’s time to refuse and say no to single-use cups, cutlery, plastic bags, and more. Share your stories on our Facebook page. https://web.facebook.com/refusesingleuseday
The International Zero Waste Month is made possible in partnership with the following media outlets: Advocates (Philippines), Bandung Bergerak (Indonesia), Business Ecology (China), The Business Post (Bangladesh), The Manila Times (Philippines), Pressenza (Global), Rappler (Philippines), Sunrise Today (Pakistan), The Recombobulator Lab (Global), and Republic Asia.
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GAIA is a network of grassroots groups as well as national and regional alliances representing more than 1000 organizations from 92 countries. For more information, visit www.no-burn.org or follow GAIA Asia Pacific on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
CONTACT
Sonia G. Astudillo, Senior Communications Officer, +63 9175969286, sonia@no-burn.org
Lifting the fog of the past that is 2020 and the seemingly unprecedented effect of government lockdowns and people staying inside their homes, experts have noticed a slight improvement in our air quality. At the start of the lockdowns, daily global carbon emissions went down by 17% starting April of the same year as compared to 2019. Researchers, however, put an underscore on the word temporary.
Temporary, because fossil fuel industries, including big plastic producers, have not really moved nor changed ways. As a derivative of the fossil fuel industry, plastic has a large carbon footprint throughout its lifecycle. Some are even taking advantage of the situation by pushing for band-aid solutions to the waste and plastic pollution crisis, and governments influenced by these corporations are swaying in the wrong direction. Everything just goes back to where it was, which entirely misses an opportunity we could have all achieved – Zero Waste.
Instead of just pausing on environmentally-damaging practices, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) Asia Pacific is using the strength of the movement to celebrate the International Zero Waste Month this January. Leveraging its wide international network, GAIA boldly takes the lead to put genuine Zero Waste work into action in spite of the many false narratives fed by corporations, international financing institutions, and other governing bodies. Through science-based and proven solutions to waste, the alliance works on the premise that Zero Waste opens up opportunities to address bigger climate challenges. Zero Waste is climate action, and the Zero Waste Month with its theme “Zero Waste for Zero Emission” hopes to show just that.
Zero, then a Hero: What People Can Expect
GAIA and its members lined up initiatives to educate and spark conversations about waste management solutions. From gatherings, to forging alliances, to film festivals, and more. Through a showcase of results-backed learning from experts and experienced individuals from around the world, the alliance aims to send the message that Zero Waste is one of the critical ways to achieve zero emissions, waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration is a false solution and a step backward, and that Zero Waste systems ensure just transition for all.
Here’s a quick look of the event highlights throughout the month of January here in the Philippines and across the region:
Refuse Single-Use Day India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, January 6)
Zero Waste Olympiad (Philippines, January 6)
Zero Waste Film Fest – Digital (Online, January 9-31)
Davao People’s Forum on Alternatives for WtE Incineration (Philippines, January 9)
Launch of Zero Waste Journalist Network – Asia Pacific (Online, January 19)
Brand Audit and Waste Assessment (Philippines, January 25)
Media Briefing (Philippines, January 24)
International Zero Waste Cities Conference (Philippines, January 26-27)
Launch of Zero Waste Cities Network (Philippines, January 26)
Organics Fair (Philippines, January 26)
Zero-Waste Film Fest (India, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines, Vietnam)
Zero Waste Tour (Philippines, January 28)
Waste Worker Appreciation Day (Philippines, January 28)
Aliansi Zero Waste Indonesia (AZWI) Talk (Indonesia)
Campaign for Sustainable Glove Purchasing for Health Facilities (Southeast Asia)
Clean-up and Waste Assessment and Brand Audit (Cambodia, India)
Freedom in A Cup Fundraising Launch (Philippines)
The International Zero Waste Month is made possible through the generous support of the Plastic Solutions Fund, in partnership with the following media outlets: Advocates (Philippines), Bandung Bergerak (Indonesia), Business Ecology (China), The Business Post (Bangladesh), The Manila Times (Philippines), Pressenza (Global), Sunrise Today (Pakistan), The Recombobulator Lab (Global), and Republic Asia.
Zero Waste Month celebrations originated in the Philippines in 2012 when youth leaders issued a Zero Waste Youth Manifesto calling for, among other things, the celebration of a Zero Waste Month. This was made official when Presidential Proclamation No. 760 was issued, declaring January as Zero Waste Month in the Philippines. It was then promoted widely by NGOs and communities that had already adopted this approach to manage their waste.
GAIA is a network of grassroots groups as well as national and regional alliances representing more than 1000 organizations from 92 countries.
Sonia G. Astudillo, Senior Communications Officer, +63 9175969286
GAIA Delegation Reflection on Achievements and Shortfalls at COP27
By Mariel Vilella, Climate Program Director, with contributions from GAIA staff and members
General Summary The development at negotiations was an agreement to a Loss and Damage Fund, which although empty and low on specifics, is an important step forward for climate justice in the Global South. READ MORE
Highlights on Waste Management The Global Methane Pledge was expanded, but still lacking in implementation. Egypt released its 50 by 2050 Initiative to treat or recycle 50% of waste in the region by 2050. READ MORE
GAIA’s Impact at COP27 GAIA had a robust international delegation to uplift zero waste as a key climate solution. We hosted and spoke at over a dozen panels, press conferences, and country pavilions reaching national delegates, climate NGOs, media, and other influencers with our key messages. READ MORE
Member Reflections on COP27 Members of GAIA’s delegation share their thoughts on what COP27 means in the broader fight to stop waste and climate pollution and build zero waste solutions. READ MORE
General Summary
Loss and Damage Demonstration in the COP27 Blue Zone. Photo courtesy of Sami Dellah.
In general terms, COP27 will be remembered for the agreement to a Loss and Damage Fund to support vulnerable nations. The Fund, despite coming empty and without much clarity on exactly who will pay for what and where, it’s a major achievement credited to all the civil society organisations and vulnerable countries in the Global South that have been demanding it for decades. Indeed, it is a first step towards securing the provision of rescue and rebuilding support to areas stricken by climate change impacts, and can be seen as the opening of a space for cooperation between developed and developing countries.
On the other hand, COP27 did not advance any further ambition to reduce GHG emissions and close the existing gap between current national pledges and the Paris Agreement goal – analysis shows that the world is still on track to 2.4°C by 2100 (unchanged from last year). After last year’s unambitious round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), countries pledged to bring new, more ambitious plans this year. But few did and, while the goal of keeping the temperature rise under 1.5 degrees is still formally in place, it is slipping farther out of reach. The final text fails to provide a stronger mandate on how to get there, reflecting a failure of the “ratchet mechanism,” the Paris Agreement’s fundamental lever to increase ambition over time. Once again, the core of the stagnant negotiation is related to the use of fossil fuels, with countries blaming each other for failing to cut ties with these polluting energy sources particularly in rich countries of the Global North, which continue to avoid their historic responsibility in causing climate change in the first place. This historic divide may play out even more significantly next year, where the COP will be hosted by the petro-state UAE.
While there was no language on phasing down fossil fuels at COP27, countries have another opportunity this week at the global plastics treaty INC1 to advance a restriction on the production of plastic, which would effectively deliver a reduction in the use of fossil fuels.
On the climate finance front, COP 27 called for the need to transform international financial institutions (MDBs, IFIs) to align their practices and priorities with much-needed climate action– a development that could pose an opportunity to drive climate finance in the waste sector and phase out support for polluting waste disposal industries. Recent remarkable examples of this trend have been the European Investment Bank and the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance, which have excluded waste-to-energy incineration for its negative impacts on climate change and circular economy. Other financial institutions e.g. ADB or IDB, still overly reliant on waste disposal technologies, could indeed help the climate by responding to this call and aligning their climate policies with the Waste Hierarchy. Moreover, climate finance advocates reminded parties that international climate flows are way too small compared to the needs of developing countries which amounts to trillions of dollars per year, with a growing concern that carbon offsets are being presented as the solution to finance the energy transition in developing countries when they should be treated as a form of climate colonialism.
Last but not least, an important general consideration worth noting was that the COP was hosted by a repressive state, with such a critical track record of human rights violations, which brought issues around freedom of speech and political prisoners to the forefront of the climate battle. Also, the reported surveillance, the ever-increasing presence of fossil fuels lobbyists, and questions over Coca-Cola’s sponsorship contributed to an atmosphere that felt hostile to civil society. Ultimately, the fact that the traditional climate justice march could only be hosted within the UN territory was a testimony of how civil liberties were limited and severely restricted, signaling the interconnections between climate chaos and authoritarianism.
Highlights on waste management
The agenda for waste management at COP27 had remarkably high stakes – considering that waste has never really been at the centre of the climate negotiations previously. This time, two main global policy initiatives – the Global Methane Pledge and the Egypt-hosted Global Waste Initiative 50 by 2050 – put waste into the spotlight in an unprecedented way, pushing a wide range of organisations, researchers and policy-makers to reflect on the interlinkages between waste and climate change, and engaging with the GAIA delegation like never before.
The Global Methane Pledge
The Global Methane Pledge (GMP), launched at COP26 and supported by more than a hundred countries that pledged to cut collective methane emissions 30% by 2030, renewed its momentum and increased the number of committed countries. At the high-level ministerial hosted by CATF, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and European Commission Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans launched a joint statement to mobilise further support for the Global Methane Pledge. Twenty four new countries announced that they will join the Global Methane Pledge, increasing the total number to more than 150 countries. Of those 150, many countries have developed national methane action plans or are in the process of doing so, with progress being made on new pathways to drive emissions reductions from the energy, agriculture, and waste sectors. From GAIA’s point of view, the renewed commitment to the GMP is worth celebrating, yet it remains to be seen how it will be implemented in the waste sector (read our reaction here).
The new Global Methane Pledge Pathway on waste includes five strategies (see full details here):
Enhancing Measurement and Tracking: with several initiatives undertaken by Carbon Mapper, RMI, and CATF are looking at identifying critical sources of methane in landfills and dumpsites and leveraging the data to drive the policy-making towards methane emissions reductions.
Scaling up Subnational Action: the new initiative Subnational Climate Action Leaders Exchange (SCALE), supported by the U.S. State Department and Bloomberg Philanthropies, aims to help cities, states, and regions develop and implement methane reduction plans. This initiative complements the Pathway Towards Zero Waste joined by 13 cities at the October 2022 C40 World Mayors Summit.
Reducing Food Loss and Waste: several initiatives are aiming to act on food loss and waste, including the set up of a Food Waste Management Accelerator in 10 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean; a new effort to quantify and track food banking methane mitigation with the Global Food Banking Network; plus other projects on food loss by IDB and the USAID, scaling up efforts in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, and/or Tanzania.
Regional Platforms: at the regional level, the IDB is planning to fund methane reduction projects in Latin America and the Caribbean and will be launching the Too Good to Waste facility to implement waste projects related to methane mitigation.
Mobilising Investment: the implementation of the GMP Waste Pathway will require scaling up investment in waste methane abatement, which so far it has involved the Government of Canada, the U.S. government, the African Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Global Methane Hub, the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Importantly, the methane reductions pledges have been followed by more than 20 philanthropies announcing combined commitments of over $200 million to support implementation of the Global Methane Pledge. This funding will “build upon and sustain action from civil society, government, and private industry, including in the more than 100 countries that have signed on to the Pledge by meaningfully investing in methane reduction solutions.”
The Global Waste Initiative 50 by 2050
GAIA delegates and allies speaking at a press conference on the 50 by 2050 Initiative at COP27
The host nation Egypt launched the Global Waste Initiative during COP27, aiming to catalyse both adaptation and mitigation solutions by treating and recycling 50% of the waste produced in Africa by 2050. In a series of workshops held at the Green Zone, the Egypt government fleshed out some of the vision behind this initiative.
The GAIA Delegation, including several representatives from GAIA Africa membership that has been following this policy process for several months, engaged in conversations with the representatives from the Egypt government and reiterated the recommendations that had already been submitted in previous occasions.
In the first place, the 50 by 2050 initiative needs an accurate baseline for recycling rates in the African continent as recycling infrastructure and waste collection varies significantly. Moreover, the initiative must clearly define the technologies accepted under the “recycling” umbrella to avoid promoting false solutions such as waste-to-energy incineration and waste trade as acceptable remedies to the plastic crisis, ignoring the fact that these only perpetuate historical injustice and concentration of power and wealth. Waste management in Africa has the potential to generate employment opportunities for vulnerable populations and to recognize the contribution of waste pickers and waste cooperatives to waste recovery rates. Before focusing on a 50% target recycling rate, 50 by 2050 should define, in a consultative process with input from multiple countries and the civil society, the means by which that rate will be pursued.
Furthermore, there needs to be a mechanism at each national level where the critical stakeholders in the waste sector are informing the best national approaches and how best they can transpose this regional effort into local action. Waste pickers and other GAIA members in those countries who are championing zero waste initiatives are best placed to help Africa achieve the ambition of this initiative and they are the local experts we should be taking advice from and not multinational corporations from the Global North whose only objective here is to promote false solutions and keep Africa trapped and perpetuating this cycle of waste colonialism.
GAIA’s impact at COP27
Member Joe Bongay (The Gambia) Speaking on a Panel at COP27
The COP27 GAIA Delegation engaged at COP27 to promote zero waste solutions as essential tools for climate mitigation and adaptation, particularly for communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. GAIA also hosted and our delegation spoke at over a dozen official side events and at other events and Pavilions within the official COP27 venue, reaching hundreds of people spanning from national delegates, climate NGOs, media, and other influencers with our key messages.
We had a Zero Waste Hub to engage the general public at COP, with a “Gallery of Zero Waste Solutions to Climate Change” and a “Gallery of Climate Trash,” sparking conversations with other members of civil society on the connection between waste and climate.
GAIA Press Conference on 50 by 2050. From left: Niven Reddy (South Africa), Rizk Youssef Hanna (Egypt), Ubrie-Joe Maimoni (Nigeria), Bubacar Zaidi (The Gambia)
We held a press conference on the Global Waste Initiative 50 by 2050, raising the voices of local waste pickers as well as African government officials and activists on the key ingredients for a successful zero waste initiative in the region.
Luyanda Hlatshwayo, Global Alliance of Waste Pickers (South Africa)
We held polluters accountable for their role at the COP, including calling out Coca Cola’s sponsorship, and the failure of the COP’s waste management systems, calling on the UNFCCC to do better. See our video!
Speakers on GAIA’s Zero Waste Cities Side Event. From left: Hon. George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, (British Columbia, Canada), Dr. Atiq Zaman, Senior Lecturer, Curtin University (Australia), Froilan Grate, GAIA Asia Pacific Regional Coordinator, (The Philippines), Ana Le Rocha, Executive Director, Nipe Fagio, (Tanzania), Luyanda Hlatshwayo, Global Alliance of Waste Pickers (South Africa)Iryna Myronova, Executive Director, Zero Waste Lviv, (Ukraine)
We also organised a panel on global frontline responses to plastic and petrochemical pollution at COP’s first ever Climate Justice Pavilion and another panel of grassroots perspective on waste management and climate justice with a focus on Africa in the CSO Hub, the outside-COP space organised by civil society.
Nazir Khan, MN Environmental Justice Table (USA)Davo Simplice Vodouhe, OBEPAB, PAN (Benin)
Victor Argentino, Instituto Polis (Brazil)Desmond Alugnoa, GAIA Africa (Ghana)
The GAIA Delegation at COP27
From left: Members Ana le Rocha (Tanzania) and Victor Argentino (Brazil) at GAIA’s Zero Waste Hub in the COP27 venue
We engaged with national delegates from key countries (for example, Brazil), hand-delivering our recent Zero Waste to Zero Emissions report to government leaders.
Member Ana le Rocha presenting a GAIA report to Marina Silva, former Brazilian Minister of the Environment
We participated in the climate justice march held at the UN COP27 venue and strengthened our links and global coordination on waste and the climate justice movement.
GAIA at the Climate March
We collaborated with Changing Markets Foundation, EIA and the Chile official government delegation to present and discuss the findings of the report Methane Matters at the official side event:
Within the UN blue zone, we participated in 16 side events and discussed a wide range of topics relevant to waste management and climate (in chronological order):
Zero waste strategies support climate change adaptation and emergency situations at Waste of War: Challenges for Ukraine, Impact on Environment and Climate, at the Ukraine Pavilion.
Zero waste and waste colonialism at the side event Climate Justice vs. False Corporate Schemes, hosted at the Climate Justice Pavilion.
Promotion of sustainable municipal solid waste management and the transition to a low-carbon economy, hosted by Vanke Foundation at the China Pavilion.
Just Transition: providing decent work and quality jobs are tools for climate policy implementation, organised by Blue Green Alliance and International Trade Union Confederation
Cross Regional Synergy for Youth-Led Climate Solutions, at the Cryosphere Pavilion.
The role of civil society in climate adaptation/ disaster risk management, at the Locally Led Adaptation Pavilion.
Youth for Climate Justice: Reflection on COP27 and Beyond, at the Zimbabwe Pavilion.
Big Picture Solutions for the Future of Preventing Food Waste, at the Food4Climate Pavilion
The implementation of the Global Methane Pledge across sectors presented in the report Methane Matters, in collaboration with Changing Markets Foundation and EIA, hosted at the Chile Pavilion.
Waste Diversion and Segregation, a huge opportunity for methane mitigation, and a challenge for ambitious public policy and subnational implementation, organised by the Global Methane HUb at the Climate Action Pavilion.
Best practices on single use plastic reduction at the UAE Pavilion.
Exposing fashion brands’ hidden links to Russian oil in a time of war, at the Ukrainian Pavilion.
Scaling up local voices and solutions from urban informal settlements: Governance and finance models that advance climate justice and urban resilience, at the Resilience Hub Pavillion.
Reflections on COP27 from our Membership
Victor H. Argentino M. Vieira – Zero Waste Advisor and Researcher – Polis Institute, São Paulo, Brazil
The COP27 was my first COP and an amazing experience, thanks to GAIA and all our delegation! Unfortunately, the amazingness does not come from the results of the climate negotiations, political will or the hope that COP is the arena for effective social participation yet. Actually, it comes from the meetings with different people from all over the world doing amazing work that fuel our hope to go forward in the climate justice struggle. It shows us that no matter the insensibility of political leaders and ineffectiveness of current politics, when organised we are the real change we need which is happening despite these. The changes are happening, not in the speed we need, but by the people who need the most. The day the neediest people are properly represented at COP is arriving, and this day will be a turning point in the climate agenda. Together and connected we are stronger, our role is to keep pushing forward and fighting for the future we want and the future we need!
Nazir Khan, Campaigns Director with Minnesota Environmental Justice Table, Minneapolis, US.
If we are pinning our hopes to address the climate emergency on the UNFCCC, we truly are in grave and profound danger. What I saw at COP27 was a feeding frenzy of false solutions and disaster capitalism (first day: Egypt Pavilion proudly discussing “Decarbonizing Oil and Gas Sector”); unceasing obstruction and time-wasting on the part of the global north, especially the United States; and a framework that simply is not working to address this emergency. Without significant structural change to the United Nations itself, I cannot see how these state-state negotiations can work. And even that may not be enough at this point.
The glimmers of hope I felt arose because of the unrelenting and courageous protests and clarion calls of civil society and social movements, as well as the united stands of the global south, G77 in particular, again and again in negotiations. I could not help but think of the once-powerful Third World movement— which gave the United Nations the few teeth it has. And I could not help but remember Egypt’s own Gamal Abdul Nasser, one of the great leaders of the Third World movement. I believe it is this long history of struggle against colonization that laid the foundation for the one victory emerging from COP27—the Loss and Damage fund. We will see whether this fund is real or becomes yet another unfulfilled promise and failed commitment. But the united stands of G77 and the tireless work of social movements, I believe, are our best hope for addressing this crisis. And those of us within the United States must do everything in our power to support them.
Ana Le Rocha, Executive Director of Nipe Fagio, Tanzania, Steering Committee member of Break Free from Plastic.
As I celebrated 30 years of activism at COP27 I experienced inspirational moments as well as frustration with the limited progress on climate action. I admire the strength and resilience of climate and human rights activists standing in power despite the limited freedom of speech and the disconnection between our demands and the outcomes of the negotiations being held by member states. The split was unapologetically felt in the way that the spaces were organized and protests were restricted. On the other hand, the rooms were also filled with representatives of the power structures responsible for the climate crisis that we are in, and watching companies and countries in the Global North insist on relying on the resources of the Global South to enable their wealth was painful. 30 years later, I keep myself accountable to the girl inside me, who became an activist at Rio 1992 with very ambitious dreams. The need for environmental activism never decreases, it only grows stronger. Connecting global advocacy with local action is a powerful strategy to drive change.”
Iryna Mironova, Zero Waste Liviv and co-founder of Zero Waste Ukraine Alliance
Iryna: Not only was this my first COP, it was also the first time my country, Ukraine, had its own pavilion, which told the world the story of how its precious black soils are impacted by war. At various events I presented local cases from the Ukrainian city of Lviv, which despite the war continues its way to zero waste and zero emissions. I got a unique chance to contribute to the discussions on the intersection of world food security caused by war, methane emissions and waste management, and local climate policies. COP is mainly about global policies that leave many communities around the world feeling unheard and out-powered to act even if their representatives and NGOs have the opportunity to observe the COP negotiations. Working together with the GAIA delegation, we showcased how zero waste is a powerful tool to act on climate change on all levels and cross-sectionally. Many cities have more ambitious climate, targets and plans than countries, but the risks and damage costs are higher for them as well. I would like to see more cities’ leadership and voices at the next COP pressuring their countries’ representatives on more ambitious targets and commitments together with NGOs on behalf of citizens.
The Ministerial announced that 150 countries have signed the Pledge which was launched at the Glasgow Climate Summit last year.
It also announced that 95% of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) include methane or will do so by the next revision, and that 50 countries have developed national methane plans or plan to do so.
These 50 countries include Brazil, Vietnam, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Norway, US and the EU – which represents 27 Member States – that have published plans in the last year. A further 10 countries – Belgium, Cameroon, Colombia, Croatia, Estonia, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Malta, and Togo have committed to publish plans by COP28. The UK has published a methane memorandum.
The Ministerial also launched a waste and agriculture pathway to tackle emissions in these sectors. The agriculture pathway is largely focused on improving productivity and efficiency of livestock production which will not impact emissions if livestock numbers continue to grow.
Experts say governments are making progress but lack a sense of urgency and need to focus on phasing out the major sources of methane – fossil fuels, industrial livestock farming and landfilling of organic waste – rather than the technical fixes and voluntary initiatives offered under the Pledge.
Tackling methane – a short lived but potent greenhouse gas – is key to limiting global heating to 1.5C
Spokespeople and their contacts
Nusa Urbancic, Campaigns Director at Changing Markets said:
“Where is the sense of urgency? Governments must move faster to cut emissions if they are to deliver on the Pledge. 2030 is just eight years away and the window of opportunity is closing. Getting to grips with livestock methane is critical. Our research shows that just 15 meat and dairy companies emit more methane than Russia or Germany. Governments need to back a shift away from the mass industrial production of livestock – not pin their hopes and our future on voluntary net zero targets that enable these companies to carry on with business as usual.”
Contact at COP27: nusa.urbancic@changingmarkets.org, WhatsApp +44 7479 015 909, interviews in French and English. Emissions Impossible; Methane Edition which calculates the methane emissions of 15 meat and dairy companies for the first time is available here.
Mariel Vilella, Global Climate Program Director at Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) said:
“While we welcome the fact that governments are starting to acknowledge the outsized importance of addressing methane, the lack of action on waste frankly stinks. 20% of all methane emissions primarily comes from throwing organic waste into landfills. Therefore the simplest, easiest, fastest solution is not fancy tech-fixes, but to stop putting organic waste in landfills in the first place. With the right strategies in place, we can reduce methane emissions in the waste sector by as much as 95% by 2030, which is an opportunity that we can’t afford to miss.”
Contact at COP: Mariel Vilella mariel@no-burn.org or +44 7847 079154
Kim O’Dowd, Campaigner at the Environmental Investigation Agency said:
“We have only a few years to give humanity a shot at staying within a 1.5°C global temperature rise and we have no time for more pledges or declarations. What the world desperately needs now are real actions and commitments – something far more meaningful to address the ongoing crisis. We cannot wait for another Climate Summit to deliver on the promises made with the Global Methane Pledge. Negotiations for a global methane agreement have to start now, with concrete and binding objectives, mandatory reporting, monitoring and verification, national actions plans and targeted financial support to ensure implementation.”
Contact at COP: kimodowd@eia-international.org or WhatsApp +4736898907
GAIA is a worldwide alliance of more than 800 grassroots groups, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in over 90 countries. With our work we aim to catalyze a global shift towards environmental justice by strengthening grassroots social movements that advance solutions to waste and pollution. We envision a just, zero waste world built on respect for ecological limits and community rights, where people are free from the burden of toxic pollution, and resources are sustainably conserved, not burned or dumped.
Waste is Third Largest Source of Anthropogenic Methane Emissions Globally
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11 November 2022, 12 pm EET
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt –The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) held a press conference along with Friends of the Earth Nigeria at COP27 to provide civil society’s perspective on Egypt’s impending announcement of its Global Waste Initiative 50 by 2050. The initiative sets the ambition to recycle and treat at least 50% of waste produced in Africa by 2050.
In this press conference, civil society and diverse experts including climate justice groups, waste picker organizers and government leaders from across the African continent emphasized the potential of waste reduction and management for climate adaptation and mitigation.
“The 50 by 2050 initiative provides us with an opportunity to scale zero waste systems for climate action in Africa and around the globe. However this initiative can only be effective if it includes organic waste management, inclusion and recognition of waste pickers, and phase out of residual waste and fundamentally moving away from incineration and other climate-polluting waste management practices that aren’t meant for Africa,” said Niven Reddy, Regional Coordinator for GAIA Africa.
Waste will be critical on the COP27 agenda as countries discuss ways to reach the Global Methane Pledge, which recognises that reducing methane, a short-lived greenhouse gas over 80 times as potent as CO2, is critical to achieving the Paris Climate Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5˚C. Waste is the third largest anthropogenic source of methane, primarily from landfilling organic waste. 122 countries have committed to tackling this greenhouse gas globally.
The climate crisis has exacerbated impacts in Africa, making the need for adaptation measures more acute. Loss and damage financing and climate investments for zero waste systems in Africa can both boost climate resilience, redress historical inequities, and support local economies.
African communities are spearheading zero waste projects for adaptation, recognising the current realities they are faced with. One such strategy, composting, reduces pollution, prevents disease vectors like mosquitos and vermin, and boosts soil resilience, which helps combat flooding and droughts that threaten food security.
Bubacar Jallow, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Climate Change & Natural Resources in The Gambia, explained:“What some may call waste is actually an incredible resource for the climate and public health. Composting food waste creates an effective fertilizer that can support greater food security in The Gambia in the face of a changing climate.”
If this initiative prioritizes the rights of waste pickers, it could also have a tremendous impact on the thousands of people working in the informal sector in the region. Waste pickers in Africa play a key role towards mitigating climate change by collecting and selling waste as a livelihood strategy, which increases recycling and reduces raw material extraction.
Wastepicker Rizk Yosif Hanna stated:“In Egypt, the Zabaleen community recycles more than 50% of the waste they collect, and therefore must be taken into consideration. Any step in Egypt and in Africa as a whole should be built on the accumulated knowledge that exists in the informal sector, and integrate waste pickers into the decision-making and implementation.”
However, all efforts to manage waste will be fruitless unless there is a strong focus on source reduction, particularly for plastic, which is made from fossil fuels. If plastic’s life cycle were a country, it would be the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world.
Ubrei-Joe Ubrei-Joe Maimoni Mariere, Regional Coordinator of Friends of the Earth Africa said: “Recycling alone is not enough to address the global waste crisis. For recycling to be effective, African countries need to start attacking sources of raw material extraction, stopping single-use plastic and reducing waste at the source.”
We have recently launched a new report titled ‘Zero Waste to Zero Emissions’. The report provides the clearest and most comprehensive evidence to date of how zero waste is critical to the climate fight, while building resilience, creating jobs, and promoting thriving local economies. You can read more about it here: https://www.no-burn.org/zerowaste-zero-emissions/
GAIA is a worldwide alliance of more than 800 grassroots groups, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in over 90 countries. With our work we aim to catalyze a global shift towards environmental justice by strengthening grassroots social movements that advance solutions to waste and pollution. We envision a just, zero waste world built on respect for ecological limits and community rights, where people are free from the burden of toxic pollution, and resources are sustainably conserved, not burned or dumped.
Waste a Key Focus at COP27 as UNEP Unveils Adaptation Report and Pipeline Accelerator Initiative
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 03 November 2022, 10 am GMT
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt –The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) will be holding a press conference along with Friends of the Earth Nigeria at COP27 to provide civil society’s perspective on Egypt’s impending announcement of its Global Waste Initiative 50 by 2050. The initiative sets the ambition to treat at least 50% of waste produced in Africa by 2050 and will address mitigation, adaptation, and implementation.
In this press conference, civil society and diverse experts including youth climate activists, climate justice groups, and government leaders from across the African continent will reflect on how waste reduction and management is a key driver of adaptation and mitigation and should be included in international climate financing.
What: Waste Critical to Reaching 1.5 Degree Target: Civil Society Responds to Africa Waste 50 Initiative
Where: COP27 Blue Zone, Luxor
When: November 11, 12:00—12:30pm EET
Speakers:
Bubacar Jallow (The Gambia) Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Climate Change & Natural Resources
Rizk Yosif Hanna (Egypt), Zabaleen Waste Picker Group
Abdallah Emad (Egypt) Convener for the Local Conference of Youth, Egypt
Ubrei-Joe Maimoni (Nigeria) Regional Coordinator, Friends of the Earth Africa
Niven Reddy (South Africa) Regional Coordinator, GAIA Africa
The Waste Sector Will Be a Key Topic at COP27 for Mitigation, Adaptation, and Climate Finance
Waste will be critical on the COP27 agenda as countries discuss ways to reach the Global Methane Pledge, which recognises that reducing methane, a short-lived greenhouse gas over 80 times as potent as CO2, is critical to achieving the Paris Climate Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5˚C. Waste is the third largest source of methane, primarily from landfilling organic waste. 122 countries have committed to tackling this greenhouse gas globally.
African communities are spearheading zero waste projects for adaptation, recognising the current realities they are faced with. One such strategy, composting, reduces pollution, prevents disease vectors like mosquitos and vermin, and boosts soil resilience, which helps combat flooding and droughts that threaten food security.
Zero waste strategies are already showing massive potential in Africa. For example the organisation Nipe Fagio, in Tanzania, is implementing a decentralised framework for separate collection, recycling, and composting, engaging 32,000 people in Dar es Salaam and achieving 95% compliance, reducing 75% of waste in the area in just two years. Studies show that scaling these projects in the capital of Dar es Salaam would lead to a 65% reduction in sector GHG emissions, while creating 18,000 new jobs.
The climate crisis has exacerbated impacts in Africa, making the need for adaptation measures more acute. Loss and damage financing and climate investments for zero waste systems in Africa can both boost climate resilience, redress historical inequities, and support local economies.
GAIA will have an international delegation of members, particularly from the Global South including several African countries, available for interview.
For a full list of events and spokespeople available for interview, please see our press kit.
Notes:
We have recently launched a new report titled ‘Zero Waste to Zero Emissions’. The report provides the clearest and most comprehensive evidence to date of how zero waste is critical to the climate fight, while building resilience, creating jobs, and promoting thriving local economies. You can read more about it here: https://www.no-burn.org/zerowaste-zero-emissions/
GAIA is a worldwide alliance of more than 800 grassroots groups, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in over 90 countries. With our work we aim to catalyze a global shift towards environmental justice by strengthening grassroots social movements that advance solutions to waste and pollution. We envision a just, zero waste world built on respect for ecological limits and community rights, where people are free from the burden of toxic pollution, and resources are sustainably conserved, not burned or dumped.
Interview with Jane Bremmer by Dan Abril
Photo courtesy of the Alliance for a Clean Environment (ACE)
Jane Bremmer is one of Asia Pacific’s prominent and outspoken environmental advocates. However, with two Arts degrees and a Sound Design major, her involvement in environmental activism was something she didn’t quite expect or envision. She shares, “We had just moved into an old house with our 4-month-old baby and we were planning on a ceramics business when we discovered we were living next door to Western Australia’s worst contaminated site – a massive 38000 m3 pit of waste oil.”
Heavily involved in social activism back in university, Jane was not the type to hold herself back; and so, together with others in the community, they formed a group and managed to get the site cleaned up and relocate those residents most affected by the contamination.
Known then as The Bellevue Action Group, it soon joined with other communities facing environmental justice threats and morphed into the Alliance for a Clean Environment (ACE)
25 years later, the alliance has seen ordinary folks become heroes: from holding industrial polluters to account to getting involved in campaigns against waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerators, and climate change. As ACE’s pioneer, Jane Bremmer sat with us to discuss the joys and challenges that come with coordinating and leading such an alliance.
What are ACE’s main ongoing campaigns?
ACE continues to support environmental justice communities facing pollution threats. In addition, we have two large WTE incinerator proposals here in Western Australia (WA) and so to counteract their waste disposal narrative, we are focused on supporting Zero Waste Campaigns here.
Aside from that, we are also working on the impacts of pesticide use in both agricultural and urban environments. A lot of people are interested because they are tired of seeing children’s playgrounds drenched in pesticides.
What are your biggest accomplishments/achievements?
Our campaign on contaminated sites resulted in the state government introducing the first-ever Contaminated Sites Act. This was a great achievement and outcome for our campaign, ensuring no community in the future would face the same situation.
ACE was also able to prevent a fifth brickworks from being built in an already heavily industrial-impacted neighbourhood where air quality had long been compromised. We consider that every time that our government listens to us, and acts to protect our health and environment, it is a win for us!
In 2005, ACE was also bestowed with a Sunday Times Pride of Australia Award for the Most Outstanding Environment Work Award.
Photo courtesy of the Alliance for a Clean Environment (ACE)
What challenges are you facing? How is your work impacted by the COVID crisis?
ACE is a very independent voice and one of the significant challenges of an environmental justice campaigner is that you are often criticizing corporations and the government – and that is not a great way to make friends or get funding. In WA, mining corporations fund everything, even the academe is very industry-captured here and as such, it is very difficult for us to get the financial support we need.
Another concern is that the world is changing very rapidly and people have less time now and people are feeling jaded and cynical. Compared to 20 years ago, people were more willing to take action and get involved in their local communities to defend their health and environment. Today, people are less interested and often accept government and industry platitudes without question.
Our working model is to focus on providing resources that frontline communities need to raise awareness and engage their own communities and connect with experts and other contributors.
COVID posed another problem, people became reluctant to meet – Australia has been so lucky dealing with the pandemic but I understand that the pandemic caused so much stress to so many other people, especially in the Asia Pacific (AP) region.
What are the main environmental issues that your country/region is facing?
There are many issues but climate change is right at the top. The fossil fuel industry, the petrochemical industry, and the pesticide industry are a deadly trio that wreaks havoc on climate, economics, trade, and people’s health.
How do you see your organization’s work evolving in the next years?
ACE is currently considering its future right now. Our membership often fluctuates according to the campaign – so whether we will still be ACE in 10 years or evolved into another organization, I don’t know. People retire and move on. My hope is that I will see me and my colleagues in our old age sitting in the back while all these awesome, young, energetic campaigners will take up the reins and lead ACE forward. Whatever happens in the future, ACE will still be around in some shape or form. This oasis will always be here.
What are your thoughts on the waste crisis that many countries in your region (and in the world) are living in right now?
Every single state in Australia is facing an incinerator threat. Two big ones have already been approved in WA, while New South Wales (NSW), Victoria, and Queensland are now facing numerous incinerator threats. South Australia (SA) meanwhile, has been quietly burning waste all this time and has massive expansion plans for refuse-derived fuel (RDF). The ‘waste disposal sector’ dominates in Australia driving a narrative of false solutions like waste incineration while failing to invest in sustainable Zero Waste policies and redefining a Circular Economy to enshrine waste burning. The waste disposal industry does not talk about Zero Waste and as such, government finances are funneled into waste incinerator projects and not source segregation.
Photo courtesy of the Alliance for a Clean Environment (ACE)
I have a bit of hope here though. Industry heads have acknowledged that they do not have a social licence to operate in Australia. When they say that, I know that we are being effective.
While Australia’s world-first waste export ban was a step in the right direction, it is simply enabling further waste dumping in the AP region through a simple redefinition of waste as a fuel commodity that can continue to be exported. This will exacerbate the global waste crisis and push incineration projects into the AP region. This will be a disaster for our climate, health, and environment. The vulnerable equatorial region on our planet is no place for dangerous highly polluting waste incinerators. The AP region knows how to implement Zero Waste policy and have long been leaders in this area. They just need respect and support to scale up. Imagine a world without waste incinerators or coal industries!
To look at the other positives: Australia has seen some major waste policy improvements such as single-use plastic (SUP) bans, container deposit schemes, extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, and now has a national food and garden organics (FOGO) programme diverting this waste from landfills to composting.
Do you collaborate with partners in other regions? If so, how?
We work with a number of other organizations – from local groups such as the Conservation Council of WA to international networks as the Basel Action Network (BAN), International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), Zero Waste Europe (ZWE), and of course the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).
Photo courtesy of the Alliance for a Clean Environment (ACE)
How does your work on waste relate to social justice?
Most environmental justice threats disproportionately impact Indigenous peoples (IPs) and other minority groups and Australia is no exception. It is well-documented that communities hosting industries in their neighborhoods are often negatively impacted by those industries. ACE’s fight against air pollution is a battle for human rights. Everyone has a right to clean air, water, and soil.
Who do you admire most in environmental work (in your country or in the world)?
There are so many great women in Australia and around the world who work for environmental justice, whether it’s petrochemicals, pesticides or plastic. They deserve much more recognition. Noting the work of Dr Mariann Lloyd- Smith who founded the National Toxics Network (NTN), Lois Marie Gibbs, who lifted the lid on dioxin and its impact on communities in the US, Theo Colburn and her incredible work on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, and Rachel Carlson who wrote “Silent Spring”. I have come to cherish and rely on them all.
There are lots of incredible women who are doing amazing things in environmental justice spaces and a lot of women are simply standing up for their kids and communities – and they inspire me to keep going.
Photo courtesy of the Alliance for a Clean Environment (ACE)
The Alliance for a Clean Environment (ACE) is in need of funding to continue its work on exposing the threat of waste incinerators and its campaign against the use of pesticides in urban areas. Reach out to ACE via their websiteor theirFacebookgroup to learn more.
70% of all greenhouse gas emissions comes from making, taking, and wasting stuff, and 20% of methane emissions–a greenhouse gas 80 times as potent as C02–comes from landfills. If we are to reach the 1.5 degree target in the Paris Agreement, we need an international effort to reduce waste and adopt zero waste strategies like reuse and repair, composting, and recycling. We know it works: people around the world, particularly indigenous communities, have been practicing zero waste for millenia. If we act now we can tackle our waste and climate crises while creating better jobs, more resilient cities, and a liveable future for all.
Innovative Zero Waste Model in Dar es Salaam is Creating Zero Waste Jobs and Mitigating Climate Change
The organization Nipe Fagio, in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, has implemented a zero waste model that combines separation at source, organic waste management, and recycling into a decentralised framework. This model generates jobs for vulnerable groups, increases waste collection and waste management in low-income communities, reduces open burning of waste and dumping, increases the rate of waste being diverted from landfills – at no additional cost to municipalities and creates awareness of the improved benefits of improved waste management. Nipe Fagio’s work on zero waste diverts organic waste from landfills, which prevents methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas. GAIA report on the job creation potential of zero waste finds that cities that invest in zero waste programs and policies create good green jobs, in addition to known benefits of reducing pollution and improving community health. Although composting produces relatively few jobs, it is still three times as many jobs as waste disposal systems. The co-benefits of separate collection and treatment of organics is a critical component of zero waste because it avoids cross-contaminating recycling streams and has some of the largest direct climate benefits through avoided landfill methane generation
Sunshine After the Storm: A Typhoon-Ravaged City Rises to Become Zero Waste
In 2013 Tacloban City, PH was devastated by one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded, Typhoon Haiyan. The impacts were made worse by the lack of waste management infrastructure in the city: single-use plastic waste clogged drainage systems, and streets were awash with debris, with nowhere for it to go. Citizens and city officials embarked on a zero waste program to separately collect, recycle, and compost waste, and in just one year were able to divert 55% of waste from landfill, up from 10% the previous year. By fertilizing local gardens with compost, soils can better absorb and detoxify floodwaters, and increased collection of plastic prevents clogged drains. The zero waste program better prepares the city for extreme weather events, making it more resilient in the face of climate change.
Waste Reduction and Cost-Savings a Benefit of Climate Action in Prelog
When GAIA member Zero Waste Croatia teamed up with waste management company PRE-KOM to create a zero waste strategy for the city of Prelog in northern Croatia, many were skeptical. But within just 5 years, the city tripled its percentage of separately collected waste, and reduced the amount of waste generated to below 100 kg per capita, becoming a model zero waste city in Croatia and beyond. The separate collection of waste prevents greenhouse gas emissions from landfills and incinerators, while raising recycling rates. Compared with the national average in 2018, for every tonne of municipal solid waste generated in a year, the city saved 192 kgCO2eq.How did this happen, in spite of much criticism that the city’s goals were unattainable and ‘utopian’?
Organics Management Reduces Public Health Threats and Builds Resilience
Ten years ago the Monte Cristo neighborhood of Florianópolis, a city on the Brazilian island of Santa Catarina had unwelcome neighbors: rats. The community was plagued with a rat infestation so serious that it caused the death of two people, who caught leptospirosis from exposure to rat urine. The true cause of the problem, the residents learned, was their waste management system, specifically food waste, which was attracting rodents. A dedicated group came together to start what became known as the “Bucket Revolution,” where workers collect residents’ organic discards in blue buckets, which are composted and used to fertilize school and community gardens. Now the program serves over 2,400 people, and is a model of how organics management not only cools the climate, but also protects against public health threats.
Zero Waste for Climate Justice in Detroit, Michigan
After successfully shutting down the waste incinerator that had been polluting the community for decades, the Detroit residents and community groups like Breathe Free Detroit are embarking on several composting pilots. One such project, the Georgia Street Community Collective (GSCC), runs a drop-off center for food waste that gets composted on-site for a local garden that grows produce for the community, creating a closed-loop food system in what has historically been a food desert. In just under two years, the Collective has prevented upward of 25,000 pounds of organics from a local university from being landfilled. Through modest zero waste strategies like scaling up recycling and composting programs, Detroit could achieve net negative emissions in the waste sector by 2030. These projects provide a blueprint for the city on how decentralized waste diversion efforts could both mitigate climate change and improve well-being across Detroit.
GAIA will have a diverse international delegation of advocates, academics, city policymakers, grassroots activists, and waste pickers at COP27. The delegation members will be sharing their expertise in a number of official side events, as well as engaging in dialogues with decision-makers, members of the media, and fellow climate experts. For media inquiries or speaking engagements please contact claire[at]no-burn.org.
Davo Simplice Vodouhe coordinates L’Organisation Béninoise pour la Promotion de l’Agriculture Biologique (OBEPAB), an NGO in Benin that has promoted organic agriculture since 1994. He is also a professor at the University of Abomey-Calavi; a member of the Pesticide Action Network Agroecology Workgroup; and is active in numerous African networks that promote ecological and climate-resilient farming.
Davo Simplice Vodouhe, L’Organisation Béninoise pour la Promotion de l’Agriculture Biologique (Benin)
Victor H. Argentino de M. Vieira works as a zero waste consultant at Polis Institute, a GAIA member based in São Paulo, Brazil. His work focuses on developing studies about waste management, climate and related issues in Brazil, promoting capacity-building activities and supporting municipalities to develop and implement zero waste strategies, with special focus on composting and organic waste management, in different Brazilian local contexts.
Victor H. Argentino de M. Vieira, Polis Institute (Brazil)
Nazir co-led the formation of the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table, where he works with communities to stop injustices like trash incinerators, concentrated pollution, and hyper-consumption, and instead build a regenerative, caring, and sustainable society. He has had a variety of roles over the last 15 years in the climate, labor, and global health movements. He has borne witness to these movements creating profound social change, often starting with a few individuals working on some local issue.
Nazir Khan, Minnesota Environmental Justice Table (USA)
Iryna Myronova is the Executive Director of Zero Waste Lviv and founding member of Zero Waste Alliance Ukraine. She received an MS in Ecology and Environmental protection at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and a professional certificate in Environmental Policy from Bard Center for Environmental Policy. Iryna has 15 years of professional experience as a sustainability manager and business consultant, and as a corporate engagement officer at World Wildlife Fund Ukraine. She is a member of the environmental board of Plast – a National scouting organization of Ukraine.
Iryna Myronova, Zero Waste Lviv (Ukraine)
Ana is a Zero Waste implementer and a plastic activist who believes that it is mandatory for us to recognize the inequality of the world that we live in, using solidarity to fill historical gaps, providing vulnerable groups with meaningful opportunities and ensuring that social justice walks together with environmental stewardship. Ana actively advocates for plastic reduction, from production to disposal to achieve climate balance. She participates in local, regional, and global networks bringing African and Latin American inputs to global conversations and pursuing equality of opportunities in environmental activism in the Global South. Ana is the Executive Director with Nipe Fagio, in Tanzania.
Ana Lê Rocha, Nipe Fagio (Tanzania)
Niven is GAIA’s Africa Regional Coordinator. He has a background in social science and worked in the education and environmental planning sector before joining the environmental justice movement in 2016 with groundWork, where he focused on air quality and working with local waste picker groups. He joined the GAIA team in January 2018 and is based in Durban, South Africa.
Niven Reddy, GAIA Africa
Dr Atiq Zaman is currently working as a Senior Lecturer at the School of Design and the Built Environment (DBE), Faculty of Humanities, Curtin University, Western Australia. He is also a Researcher at the Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute (CUSP) and the Course Coordinator of the Master of Environment and Climate Emergency program. He is one of the founding Co-Directors of the Global South Nexus research cluster at DBE. Since 2022, Atiq has been working as the Curtin Node Leader for the Sustainable Community and Waste Hub funded by the Commonwealth Government under the National Environmental Science Programme-NESP2 (2021-2027).
Dr. Atiq Zaman, Curtin University (Australia)
Daniel Nkrumah is the Municipal Coordinating Director (City Manager) of La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly, in Accra, Ghana. He holds Master’s degree in Public Sector Management, a bachelors degree in Political Science and is currently a Phd. student at the Institute of Development and Technology Management (IDTM). Daniel is also a Chartered Professional Administrator and Management Consultant, ADR Practitioner, and Project Management expert (Galilee International Management Institute (GIMI), Israel).
Daniel Nkrumah, La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly (Ghana)
Aditi Varshneya is the Membership Coordinator for GAIA U.S. and Canada. Originally from India, Aditi grew up in China and is now based in New York City. Her academic background centers on environmental justice, and she is pursuing a Master of Urban Planning at New York University. Aditi was a community organizer prior to joining GAIA and is fiercely dedicated to building a world that values people and the planet before profit.
Aditi Varshneya, GAIA U.S. and Canada (U.S.)
Mariel Vilella is GAIA’s Global Climate ProgramDirector, building bridges and identifying opportunities for collaboration across borders to promote zero waste policies and practices with members worldwide. Prior to this role, between 2014-2019 she was the Managing Director of Zero Waste Europe, during its foundation and early development. Before 2014 she was the lead climate policy campaigner for the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).
Mariel Vilella, GAIA (U.K.)
Froilan Grate is the Asia Pacific Regional Coordinator and Executive Director of GAIA Philippines. He is a committed environmental justice campaigner who has assisted more than 20 cities/municipalities in the Philippines in developing and improving waste management programs and systems. He has extensive experience in module development and training and legislative work, providing support to legislators at the local government level, especially in areas of policy review.
Froilan Grate, GAIA Asia Pacific (The Philippines)
Christie is the International Coordinator of GAIA. She joined GAIA in 2005 and has 25 years of experience with social movements and international non-profit organizations. She began her work in Guatemala as a popular educator, program coordinator, and strategic planning facilitator for groups in the women’s movement and Mayan-Campesino organizing community, as well as in international human rights. For the last 15 years, Christie has worked from the U.S. on international waste, public health, and environmental justice issues.
Christie Keith, GAIA (U.S.)
Joe is the co-founder of YVE- Gambia, which focuses primarily on involving youth in local projects that incorporate concepts of sustainability, climate change adaptation, spread poverty-oriented and sustainable solutions to energy production and environmental preservation.
Joe Bongay, Young Volunteers for the Environment (The Gambia)
Amira has in-depth expertise in participatory and action research for waste management and recycling planning with different stakeholders. In Sierra Leone she is the Technical Coordinator and the Field Lead on the Plastic Circular Economy in Plastics for Sustainable Tourism and Economic Diversification Project.
Amira El Halabi, WIEGO (Sierra Leone)
Luyanda has been a reclaimer based in the city of Johannesburg in South Africa for 13 years. He is a founding member of Africa Reclaimers Organization and currently the project implementation officer focusing on the separation at source project. He is engaged in school educational programs to educate students the role of reclaimers and the impact of plastics.
Luyanda Hlatshwayo, International Alliance of Waste Pickers(South Africa)
Mahesh is the Director of Paryavaran Mitra, a climate and environmental organization based in Gujarat, India. Known for his vibrant role as an environmental and human rights activist for almost two decades, Mahesh Pandya is also the editor of the bi-monthly publication Paryavaran Mitra.
Mahesh Pandya, Paryavaran Mitra (India)
Carissa is the Communications Coordinator for GAIA Africa. She has a background in journalism, with a special focus on new media and has previously worked with local news media as a journalist. She has developed multiple publications and materials with members across the continent and has a special interest in working with the informal sector and mainstreaming messages around waste picker integration in Africa.
Carissa Marnce, GAIA Africa (South Africa)
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
The following events are located within the official conference venue, any person wishing to access the side event area must be duly registered as part of a delegation of a Party or an observer organization and in possession of a conference badge. The link to access the virtual platform for badge-holders will be provided here as soon as it becomes available.
With the exception of the press conference and Zero Waste Hub, all events will be livestreamed on the UNFCCC youtube channel, which is accessible to anyone.
At the Zero Waste Hub, hosted by Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), COP attendees can learn more about how zero waste strategies like reuse and repair, composting, and recycling are fast, affordable climate solutions that help build resilience, create jobs, and promote thriving local economies. Guests have the opportunity to speak with zero waste advocates from around the world and access the latest research on waste and climate.
Zero Wate as Climate Justice: Frontline Solutions to Emissions from the Plastics & Petrochemical Sector. Plastic pollutes the climate and and perpetuates environmental injustices at every stage of its lifecycle. However, we can curb emissions by incorporating simple, effective and low-cost zero waste strategies. Our expert panelists organize on the frontlines of the plastics crisis and will discuss the opportunities and threats to a just transition to zero waste.
Scaling up local voices and solutions from urban informal settlements: Governance and finance models that advance climate justice and urban resilience. This event will illustrate the power of urban poor communities to produce governance and finance models that advance climate justice from the ground up, highlighting the transformative power of these strategies when partnerships with other stakeholders facilitate replication and scaling up of the work.
Waste management will be one of the critical topics tackled at COP27, where host nation Egypt plans to put forward the Africa Waste Initiative, an initiative hoping to catalyse both adaptation and mitigation solutions and aiming at treating and recycling 50% of the waste produced in Africa by 2050. In this press conference, civil society experts both from Africa and abroad will reflect on how the Africa Waste Initiative underscores the importance of tackling waste as a climate solution.
Increasing GHG emissions in cities can be greatly reduced through just transition strategies toward circular and zero waste local economies. Panelists will reflect on how cities around the world are using zero waste strategies to reduce waste and emissions to meet their Paris Climate Agreement targets. The panel will underscore measures that support a just transition for workers and marginalized communities.
Methane Matters: delivering on the Global Methane Pledge for ambitious methane mitigation. Speakers will present which measures need to be taken by Global Methane Pledge signatories to ensure ambitious methane cuts & explore the need for diplomatic efforts to develop an int’l governance framework on methane mitigation.
WHEN: Nov. 14 , from 17:00 – 18:30 EET, and Nov. 17, from 13:15 – 14:45
Zero Waste Implementation as a Just and Equitable Approach to Climate Action.This cross-cutting session will showcase climate solutions and community interventions currently implemented in Africa. These are on the way to putting African countries on the path of decarbonising high-emitting sectors such as waste, oil and gas, cement, and transport. The panel will discuss key enablers to end the repressive behavior of national governments and the private sector towards the informal sector, and the corporate greed in fueling consumer culture. Panelists will guide the room on how to jumpstart a revolution for waste pickers’ recognition and frontline community empowerment.
Waste Diversion and Segregation, a huge opportunity for methane mitigation, and a challenge for ambtitious public policy and subnational implementation. During the event, we will discuss the relevance of public policy waste diversion and segregation as an opportunity for the global South methane mitigation, an OECD analysis on Food Waste/Loss and Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste public policy will be presented, and we will discuss how national and local governments could work and show good examples on public policies, data information, and environmental justice consideration
Methane from the waste sector: Opportunities and challenges to deliver the Global Methane Pledge. At last year’s COP, over one hundred countries signed onto the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) to reduce global methane emissions at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030. These countries need to find affordable, effective strategies to reach their goals. The waste sector is the third largest source of methane emissions, primarily from rotting organic waste in landfills.
A new report by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) provides the clearest and most comprehensive evidence to date of how better waste management is critical to the climate fight, while building resilience, creating jobs, and promoting thriving local economies.
This report highlights the most actionable steps governments can take to reduce methane emissions. We found that by tackling the waste sector, governments will get fast results using some of the easiest and most affordable methane reduction strategies available. Waste prevention, source-separation of organic discards, and other methods can reduce solid waste methane emissions by as much as 95% by 2030.
Waste is the third largest source of methane emissions, a greenhouse gas over 80 times as potent as CO2. Most waste sector methane emissions come from landfilling organic waste. This paper discusses how diverting organic waste from landfill is one of the fastest and most affordable ways to lower methane emissions.
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are submitted by signatory countries to the Paris Agreement that describe their plans and goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In October 2021, GAIA analyzed 99 NDCs to evaluate how zero waste solutions — plastic reduction, waste separation, composting, and environmental justice — are embedded in national climate mitigation plans. As an update to the analysis, we present a set of country profiles, featuring the governments’ commitments made for the waste sector and grassroots efforts for climate zero waste solutions in 12 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America.
The mission with the #breakfreefromplastic brand annual audit is to identify the world’s top polluting corporations. By gathering data on plastic waste collected at community cleanups around the world, brand audits allow us to challenge the plastic industry and demand real solutions. Our reports have revealed that the true driving forces of the plastic pollution crisis are the corporations producing all this plastic in the first place. For these five years in a row Coca-Cola–which is sponsoring COP27– has been implicated as a top plastic polluter.
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Interview with Daru Rini, Prigi Arisandi, and Tonis Afianto by Sonia Astudillo
Photo courtesy of ECOTON
Have you ever met a group of people who talk about the problems of the world, show you solutions, and suddenly you feel like there is hope for this world? That is what it felt like talking to Daru Rini, Prigi Arisandi, and Tonis Afrianto, Ecological Observation and Wetlands Conservation’s Executive Director, Senior Researcher and Founder, and Communication Officer, respectively.
Once tagged as rebels by their university professors, Daru and Prigi who both studied Biology, found their calling when they set-up ECOTON as a research club in the university in 1996 and then as a non-government organization in 2000. Tonis joined the team in 2018 to bring in his communication expertise.
“I worry about daily pollution that is happening right in front of our eyes. Fish are dying in the river, people are cutting mangroves, there was rampant building of houses in conservation areas, there was high pollution of heavy metals in coastal areas, and the water is changing colors” said Prigi. “It was difficult to understand why we are polluting the water on one side of the river and then drinking from the other side. Why is it happening? Those were the questions I had as a young researcher and I knew we needed to do something about it: research, compile data, present it to the governor via demonstrations, and get people in the city involved.”
For Daru, it was about protecting biodiversity and the realization that the source of the problem is from the lands.
“Back in the university, we were the naughty students,” added Prigi. “We felt useless because we had a lot of equipment but we did nothing. We were angry with the lectures because it seemed useless. Our professors became our enemy.” Twenty years later though, Prigi was invited by the university and was given an Alumni Award for their outstanding work in ECOTON.
ECOTON, based in Gresik, East Java in Indonesia continues to promote environmental justice for present and future generations, especially in sustainable wetland resource management. The group uses the Himantopus bird as a logo to signal that just like the bird they will keep warning people if there is imminent danger. “We see our work as a warning system because we believe that we must provide good information to the community based on scientific research,” says Daru.
GAIA sat down with Daru, Prigi, and Tonis to know more about their work, their frustrations, and their achievements through the years.
Photo courtesy of ECOTON
What are ECOTON’s top priorities?
We believe: if you don’t know it, you don’t love it. We provide easy information. We transform difficult data into easy-to-understand information. Our job is to make scientific information easy to understand. (Watch documentaries by ECOTON.)
Our dream is a people’s movement. We want to see people conserving rivers by themselves. We want data to translate into active participation.
On top of that, we give early warning about environmental conditions like threats, pollution, and extinction. We share those information to stakeholders like the community, government, and media via social media and documentaries. We prioritize local community groups organizing so they can have the awareness, knowledge, and skill to participate. For the government, we push for policies that support environmental conservation while constantly reminding them through our scientific reports. Without reports and monitoring, the government will not act.
What are ECOTON’s main ongoing campaigns?
Our main campaign is for river protection to become a national priority of the government. Currently, there are policies on forest impact of mining but we don’t see river management programs.
We use the information on microplastics as a tool for people to care more about rivers. Currently, all of our rivers are polluted by microplastics and it comes from the waste that we throw. It impacts our health because this same river supplies 86% of our drinking water. We want people to realize that everything we dump will eventually end up in our bodies.
Research from ECOTON, from the UK, and Netherlands shows that microplastics are already in our bodies. We did a study that feces is contaminated with microplastics and we show how it comes from the waste thrown in the river. (Read the full report in Bahasa.)
We are also suing the governor in East Java because they are not prioritizing waste management in the river despite Policy 22-2021 stating that all rivers must be without waste.
At ECOTON, we write stories, we visit rivers, we make documentaries, and we talk to the media because we want the information that we have to become common knowledge.
Photo courtesy of ECOTON
What are your biggest accomplishments/achievements?
For one, we are still alive after 22 years. ECOTON has now become more publicly known by the people and the government. It makes it easier for us to make educational programs and reach the public. We have more networks now, so it is easier to find support. Joining a global network also helped us develop our campaigns and gave us access to more funding, knowledge, and even volunteers.
After we did the Stop Waste Export campaign, we got support from other NGOs in Europe and Australia and a response from developed countries that they will reduce waste trade. (Watch Take Back – a documentary on smuggling waste in Indonesia)
We have developed partnerships in communities in more than 68 rivers in Indonesia.
When we first released the dioxin report, the government said the report is not valid and said they will make their own report to counter ours. To this day, they have not released their report. But, it raised people’s awareness about plastics and its dangers.
The relationship with the government is still not good but some officers are already warm and welcoming. Some cities welcome us but that is not the case in the provinces, especially after the dioxin report.
What challenges are you facing? How is your work impacted by the COVID crisis?
Many people don’t think that the environment is an important issue to take care of. Indonesia is still a developing country. People still have low economic status. The priority for most is to earn money for living. That makes it difficult to educate them and stop them from dumping trash in the river.
We need law enforcement. However, environmental management is not a priority for the government. There is very low funding and lack of personnel to enforce the law and respond to public complaints.
We also need more information or evidence of pollution. We do not have local evidence and no proper laboratory to conduct more tests and studies. Even if we want to know about dioxin pollution in Indonesia, we are unable to do so because of a lack of facilities. We need scientific data to make people understand. People don’t have knowledge and information. Evidence must be local.
The university cannot speak even if they have the data. They are afraid to speak. Environmental activists are harassed and even criminalized. Even journalists are targeted especially when it comes to military members. That is why we need scientific evidence.
What are the main environmental issues that your country/region is facing?
Harassment of environmental journalists, lack of scientific evidence, and extinction of freshwater fish, are just a few.
The latter can be blamed on microplastics because of its effect on the reproductive hormone. We have research showing that male and female fish don’t have the same time of maturation so they cannot reproduce. Microplastics can also feminize fish. Plastic polymers can influence the fertility of both fish and humans. The composition of male and female in a non-polluted river is 50-50 but it is 20-80 in polluted rivers. Given all these, it is safe to say that plastics can cause extinction in both fish and humans. (Watch Plastik Pulau/Plastic Island.)
Photo courtesy of ECOTON
How do you see your organization’s work evolving in the next years?
We have new programs such as the Besuk Sungai or visit the sick. Our river is sick so we must visit them. People must visit the river and when you visit, you must do something.
We provide tools so people can monitor and measure the microplastic in the river. We collect water samples and use a microscope to see the presence of microplastic. We want to encourage people to learn by doing, to see and smell the river, and to grow empathy towards the river.
We will have our national elections in 2024 and we want to push the candidates to speak about plastics pollution. We also want to push our findings on microplastics to go viral. We want to give full information on the state of 68 rivers in Indonesia and we want people to feel that they are cool if they know about river pollution.
What are your thoughts on the waste crisis that many countries in your region (and in the world) are living in right now?
The Plastics crisis is everywhere. There are problems with mismanaged waste and leakage but developed countries don’t have the capacity to recycle and then developed countries continue to send us their waste.
The solution: we need to have a global agreement – the Global Plastics Treaty. It is good progress because we are starting to deal with plastics, not as a waste issue, but as a material that should be addressed from production so we can achieve circularity and once and for all, solve the problem.
Our grandmothers used to use refills and we need to go back to that so we can reduce production and consumption.
Photo courtesy of ECOTON
Community participation and global citizenship are important. We are one. We have the same responsibilities and the same rights. In developing countries, the right to speak and the freedom to get information is very limited. We want to fight that. As an NGO, we must produce information and strategize on how to get those information to the people.
We have produced 20 documentaries. We try to transfer this knowledge to our modern culture, make it popular, and easy to receive. We must replicate a strategy to produce more information and get it outside our circles. We must change as an NGO, engage grassroots communities, and build movements not programs.
Currently we have good relations with the communities where we work not just in Surabaya but also in river communities from 17 cities all over East Java.
Photo courtesy of ECOTON
How does your work on waste relate to social justice?
Through the sustainable use of wetland resources and ecotourism and fishery, we encourage the government to establish protected areas in Surabaya. We proposed a conservation area to the mayor because once it is properly managed, it becomes a source of income for the local community.
We also promote social justice in our biodiversity programs because local people need to develop their economy by using their biodiversity resources sustainably. We discourage the use of destructive fishing equipment and teach the community how to harvest in a sustainable way, both in rivers and forests.
We also use citizen science as a tool to monitor forest destruction. In every city and river we visit, we establish a community of mostly youth. We have tools to monitor water quality. We identify herbal plants and we promote fishers sanctuary. We believe that we can live in harmony with the river. In some rivers, we show connections between upstream and downstream – water flow from upstream to downstream so money will flow. If people upstream are cruel, then that will affect those downstream and vice versa. We build connections so they can harmonize.
Who do you admire most in the environmental work (in your country or in the world)?
Silent Spring writer Rachel Carlson because she used scientific reasons. Her evidence made people move and we were inspired. Another is Che Guevara because he went around Latin America in a motorbike to know the condition of the people and then engaged them.