Permanent secretary for the Ministry of Waterways and Environment, Joshua Wycliffe

Fiji’s economic base depends on tourism, fishing and the agricultural sectors.

Permanent secretary for the Ministry of Waterways and Environment, Joshua Wycliffe says these sectors are heavily reliant on an environment that is relatively free of waste and pollution.

Speaking at the fourth United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi Kenya, Wycliffe says Fiji seeks to protect these vital business segments through innovating partnership models and avenues with the private sector.

He says Fiji anticipates that these efforts would result in a win-win solution to the environment, communities and businesses.

“While a lot of efforts are being put in at the national level, Fiji, like the rest of the Pacific is at the receiving end of the transboundary marine plastic pollution. This situation arises mostly from the careless behavioral patterns displayed globally including from quarters domiciled several time zones away.”

Wycliffe says Fiji is also conscious of the integral role played by the natural environment in its progress trajectory as a nation.

“Fiji calls for a legally binding global instrument with a tangible target(s) that includes monitoring and reporting mechanisms. This instrument would go a long way in combating the marine litter and pollution issue and offer a global response towards this issue which is transboundary in nature.”

The PS highlighted that marine plastic pollution in all forms threatens the ecological integrity of Fiji’s oceans which has sustained Fijians for years.

He adds that if this threat is not combatted immediately on a global
scale, then the future of all Fijians and the wider humanity as a whole remains bleak.