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The governments of Ecuador, India, Kenya, Lao PDR, Philippines, Uruguay, and Viet Nam have come together to launch a $379 million initiative to combat pollution from the use of pesticides and plastics in agriculture. 

The Philippines, an archipelago of numerous islands and many ethnolinguistic groups, is a tapestry of cultural diversity and unique ecosystems. The country harbors 20 percent of known plant and animal species, making it critically important to global environmental benefits. Yet, between the 1930s and 1999, timber harvesting put this precious diversity at risk. The drop in forest cover from 70 percent to 18 percent destroyed many of the resources that Indigenous Peoples (IPs) rely upon.

Fifteen countries from across the Global South have united in the fight for a cleaner environment, with the approval of the largest global investment in tackling plastic pollution to date. With funding from the Global Environment Facility, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, India, Jordan, Laos, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, and Senegal will collaborate to transition towards a circular economy for plastics under the $107 million program targeting single-use plastic packaging in the food and beverage industry.

Joan Carling is Global Director of Indigenous Peoples Rights International, an organization working to protect human rights and address criminalization and violence against Indigenous Peoples. In an interview following her presentation to CSO Consultations hosted by the GEF, the UN Champion of the Earth awardee shared lessons from her 20 years of activism for a safer and more sustainable planet.  How did you get into this line of work?

The United Nations’ most recent Global E-Waste Monitor report estimates that electronic waste generated worldwide will exceed 74 million metric tons by 2030. Higher consumption of electrical and electronic equipment, as well as short life cycles and limited repair options, will drive the increase. According to the report, the Philippines is among Southeast Asia's top e-waste generators. The country is estimated to have generated 3.9 kg of e-waste per capita in 2019.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) this week approved $3.8 million to support the restoration, conservation, and management of coral reefs in four countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The project, financed by the Asia-Pacific Climate Finance Fund (ACliFF) and the Global Environment Facility will develop climate risk financing and insurance solutions to protect coral reef ecosystems in Fiji, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Solomon Islands.