Singapore, Australia And India Join Forces To Solve Marine Pollution

The Indian government jointly with the Governments of both Australia and Singapore, organized a workshop on combating marine pollution. The focus was on marine plastic debris. It was held on two days February 14 and 15.

The virtual workshop brought leading government policy-making officials, experts, scientists, and industry representatives from the innovation and informal domains. Its aim was to discuss research advancements made toward assessing and monitoring marine litter and possible next-gen solutions to address worldwide marine plastic pollution.

Panel discussions and interactive sessions were an integral part of the discussion. The target was to boost discussion amongst the participants, especially those belonging to East Asia Summit countries.

The East Asia Summit or the EAS is one of the premier forums that spearhead discussions on strategic issues, particularly those concerning the Indo-Pacific. Since it came into being in 2005, the EAS kept advocating for regional cooperation, peace, security, and prosperity of the Indian Ocean and the Asia-Pacific region. EAS countries recognize the marine and coastal plastic pollution challenges.

Prime Minister Modi announced the agenda of boosting maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region at the 14th session of EAS conducted in Bangkok in 2019. India, Australia, and Singapore are committed to facilitating EAS decisions.

Dr. M Ravichandran, the Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Indian Government, delivered the keynote address.

He recommended considering the deployment of technological tools such as artificial intelligence (AI), remote sensing, and machine learning or (ML) for mapping marine plastics distribution. He added that developing models to figure out the dynamics of plastics in our Indian ocean could help.

He emphasized that a tailor-made and well-designed management technique specialized in regional distinctiveness may bring down plastics in our environment.

Reference: theprint.in