Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Technology Aminath Shauna has stated that the absence of plastics will not impact the everyday lives of citizens. She made the remark at the event held to launch the Ocean Plastics Reduction project.
At the event, Minister Shauna said the rise in sea level and environmental changes have been greatly affecting the Maldives, adding that plastic also causes harm to the environment. She also expressed concern over the damage to the water table in the atolls and the rise in incidents of swell waves as well as the challenges in adapting to climate change.
Officials from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Parley Maldives joined the project launching event with students from different schools. The event began with a beach cleanup activity at Artificial Beach in Male’ City.
USAID officially launched the five-year Ocean Plastics Reduction Project to reduce environmental plastics by decreasing the industrial use of plastic and improving integrated solid waste management practices. USAID stated that the project’s consortium, led by Research Triangle International (RTI), works alongside local partners to target system inefficiencies and areas of reliance on virgin plastics. The project’s overall goal is to increase participation in solid waste management and reduction programmes, preventing thousands of tonnes of plastic from leaking into the environment in the next few years.