Canada takes garbage back from Philippines, ending long dispute

Yahoo – AFP, Alia Dharssi, June 29, 2019

A ship carrying dozens of containers of Canadian trash left in the Philippines for
years has arrived back home (AFP Photo/Don MacKinnon)

Vancouver (AFP) - Tonnes of Canadian garbage left in the Philippines for years arrived back home Saturday, putting an end to a festering diplomatic row that highlighted how Asian nations have grown tired of being the world's trash dump.

A cargo vessel loaded with about 69 containers of rubbish docked in a port on the outskirts of Vancouver, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

The trash will be incinerated at a waste-to-energy facility, local officials said.

The conflict dates back to 2013 and 2014, when a Canadian company shipped containers mislabeled as recyclable plastics to the Philippines.

The shipment actually contained a mixture of paper, plastics, electronics, and household waste, including kitchen trash and diapers, even though Philippine law prohibits imports of mixed plastics and household trash.

Some of the waste was disposed of in the Philippines, but much of it stewed in local ports for years.

The issue polluted bilateral relations for years, but tensions came to a head in April when Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to "declare war" against Canada unless it reclaimed the garbage.

Canada missed a May 15 deadline to repatriate the rubbish, but then made arrangements soon thereafter to move it back to Canadian soil.

Canada's Environment Minister Catherine McKenna told reporters on Thursday: "We committed with the Philippines and we're working closely with them."

Global concern over plastic pollution has been spurred by shocking images of waste-clogged rivers in Southeast Asia and accounts of dead sea creatures found with kilos of refuse in their stomachs.

Environmental activists in the Philippines had protested outside the Canadian 

embassy in Manila to speed up the removal of the tonnes of Canadian trash (AFP 

Photo/maria Salvador Tan)

For years, China had received the bulk of scrap plastic from around the world, but closed its doors to foreign refuse last year in an effort to clean up its environment.

Huge quantities of waste plastic have since been redirected to Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Indonesia and -- to a lesser degree -- the Philippines.

In November 2016, Canada amended its regulations on waste disposal to prevent incidents like the one with the Philippines.

Canadian exporters now need a permit to export hazardous waste and can only obtain it if the other country consents to the import, Jenn Gearey, a spokeswoman for the Canadian environment ministry, said via email.

Even so, challenges remain.

In May, Malaysian officials criticized Canada after a shipping container filled with contaminated plastic bags from major Canadian grocery chains was shipped to Kuala Lumpur by a private company.

Canada produces more waste per capita than other countries with comparable levels of economic development, ranging from the United States to Japan, according to a study by the Conference Board of Canada.

The majority of it ends up in landfills.

Environmental advocates argue that developed countries should stop exporting their trash and figure out how to handle it domestically.

"The way forward is to drastically reduce the amount of waste we generate, especially plastic waste," said Vito Buonsante, plastics program manager at Environmental Defense in Toronto.

Palau changes ocean sanctuary plan to allow Japan fishing

Yahoo – AFP, June 17, 2019

Fish stocks are overexploited around the world, the UN's Food and Agriculture
Organization has warned (AFP Photo/CHARLY TRIBALLEAU)

Koror (Palau) (AFP) - The Pacific nation of Palau has amended plans to create a huge marine reserve so Japanese fishing boats still have partial access to its waters.

Fish stocks are overexploited around the world, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization warned this year, and Palau has long been regarded as a pioneer in ocean conservation.

The island nation will close 80 percent of its exclusive economic zone -- a 500,000 square kilometre (193,000 square mile) area roughly the size of Spain -- to commercial fishing from next year.

The remaining 20 percent was to be reserved for Palau fishing boats only, but President Tommy Remengesau said Japan -- one of Palau's major foreign aid donors -- asked for the plans to be changed.

In response, the government last week passed legislation that will allow some foreign long-line vessels into the area.

Remengesau said the changes were to accommodate vessels from the southern Japanese island province of Okinawa, which have fished the waters for generations.

"We're close to Japan and we want to accommodate them where we can," Remengesau said.

Natural Resources Minister Umiich Sengebau said the changes would not undermine the sanctuary's conservation value.

"Japan has come out and actually endorsed the amendment and that's good for Japan, but it was really something we want to do for Palau to have an industry that we can sustain," he said.

The country created the world's first shark sanctuary in 2009 and will next year introduce a ban on reef-toxic sunscreens.

Remengesau said his nation -- renowned as one of the world's top diving spots -- was prioritising tourism when he announced the plan in 2015.

The tourist industry accounts for about 50 percent of the country's economy, above the tuna fishing industry.

Tokyo-based charity The Nippon Foundation donated a patrol vessel to Palau last to help prevent illegal fishing in the vast ocean reserve.

Environment group Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy, which helped formulate the blueprint for the sanctuary, said it was examining the changes introduced last week.

"While we are still working to fully analyse the legislation, we continue to support Palau as a world leader in ocean conservation," the group's senior manager Ashleigh Cirilla said.

G20 agrees marine plastic pollution deal

Yahoo – AFP, Kyoko HASEGAWA, June 16, 2019

Campaigners say the only long-term solution to the plastic waste crisis is for
companies to make less and consumers to use less (AFP Photo/JOSEPH EID)

Tokyo (AFP) - The Group of 20 major economies said they agreed a deal to reduce plastic waste that is choking the seas at a meeting in Japan on Sunday.

Under the agreement, G20 member countries committed to reducing plastic waste but gave little detail on how that would be done. They added that the steps would be voluntary and progress would be reported once a year, according to local media.

The Japanese government hopes to hold the first meeting in November, said newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.

"It is great that we were able to make rules for all, including emerging and developing countries," Japanese environment minister Yoshiaki Harada said after the two-day meeting of the G20 environment and energy ministers' meeting.

Plastic pollution has become a global concern, particularly after bans imposed by China and other countries on the import of plastic waste from overseas.

Many countries, including Japan, have seen their waste pile up as a consequence.

Microplastics -- tiny pieces of degraded waste -- have attracted particular attention.

They absorb harmful chemicals, accumulating inside fish, birds and other animals, and are difficult to collect once in the water.

Plastic pollution has become an increasing international concern (AFP Photo/

Boris HORVAT)

The framework agreed at the meeting in the central mountain resort of Karuizawa would be the first to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean involving not only rich nations but emerging economies as well.

'Legally binding' rules needed

The deal would be "the first step" to tackling plastic waste, Hiroaki Odachi of Greenpeace Japan said in a statement.

"However, it is insufficient to rely on countries' voluntary actions" to resolve the crisis, he said.

Only an estimated nine percent of plastics ever produced are recycled and campaigners say the only long-term solution to the plastic waste crisis is for companies to make less and consumers to use less.

"G20 countries should clearly announce that they will prioritise reducing generation of single-use plastics" along with recycling and reusing materials, Odachi said.

"Legally binding international rules with clear timelines and goals" are needed, similar to those in the Paris Agreement on climate, he added.

The 2015 Paris agreement commits signatories to efforts to cap global warming at "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit).

Japan will demand businesses charge for plastic shopping bags next year to help reduce waste, said Japanese industry minister Hiroshige Seko on Saturday.

Many countries in the world already charge for single-use bags or ban them outright.

First dead endangered right whale of 2019 spotted in Canada waters

Yahoo – AFP, June 5, 2019

A critically endangered North Atlantic right whale swims off the coast of the
northeastern US state of Massachusetts near Cape Cod Bay (AFP Photo/Don Emmert)

Ottawa (AFP) - The first dead critically endangered North Atlantic right whale of 2019 has been spotted in Canada's Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the fisheries and oceans department said Wednesday.

The ministry said in a release that the animal carcass had been spotted drifting in the channel during an aerial surveillance flight on June 4.

"We are currently assessing the recovery and necropsy options," it said.

The Canadian government stepped up tracking of right whales after more than a dozen were found dead in 2017 in the busy seaway and off the coast of New England in the United States, which had prompted concern from marine biologists.

The area is home to nearly one quarter of the world's last 411 right whales, according to the most recent government figures.

The Marine Animal Response Society, which is working with the department, identified the deceased animal as a nine-year-old male known to researchers as Wolverine.

No deaths were reported last year.

Ottawa last year restricted snow crab fishing and the speeds of boats travelling in the Saint Lawrence seaway to prevent more deaths.

Conservation officials say that North Atlantic right whales are among the most threatened species in the world.

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Eritrean man picked up in North Sea on home-made raft

DutchNews, June 3, 2019

Photo: Ko van Leeuwen

The Dutch sea rescue services on Sunday rescued an Eritrean man who was trying to cross the North Sea to England on a home-made raft. 

The KNRM said it picked up the man on Sunday morning near IJmuiden, the port to the west of Amsterdam, close to a busy shipping route. 

The triangular raft had been made out of tree trncks and plastic plant pots filled with plastic bottles and polystyrene for buoyancy and tied together with rope. It had a plastic sail, and carried a jerrycan of water and a solar panel to power a mobile phone. 

According to the Noordhollands Dagblad, the man wanted to take advantage of the ebb tide to reach the wider sea and was completely reliant on wind and the tides for the 190 kilometre crossing. 

The man, said to be 26 years old, is being questioned by border police. 

‘I have never seen anything like this and I hope it is the last time I do,’ KNRM captain Walter Schol said. ‘The raft is not at all seaworthy and he was very lucky with the weather, otherwise this could have ended very differently.’