A report dubbed "An ocean of opportunity: Ocean Action Report” has hailed Rwanda for its move to ban single use plastics.

The report published in June 2022, was presented on June 21 during the side event of the ongoing 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, "Blue Charter Action Groups tackling ocean and climate change.”

The Commonwealth Blue Charter is an agreement by all Commonwealth countries to actively cooperate to solve ocean-related problems and meet commitments for sustainable ocean development.

"More recently, Rwanda was one of the two sponsors of the historic global resolution to end plastic pollution which was adopted at the United Nations Environment Assembly in March 2022 with backing from all commonwealth countries,” reads the report.

In 2019, Rwanda passed a law prohibiting the manufacturing, importation, use, and sale of single-use plastic items in Rwanda.

Rwanda is also among 28 commonwealth countries that have instituted a ban on a single use plastic carrier bag, either at point of production/import, point of sale.

The report which was presented by Jeff Ardon, The Ocean Governance Adviser at Commonwealth secretariat, shows that across the commonwealth, 41 countries have taken steps to reduce avoidable single-use plastic waste, mostly through the regulatory instruments.

Why ban plastic waste?

Studies show that as much as 90 percent of plastic waste globally is currently not managed and that 79 percent of all plastics are neither recycled nor reused.

The amount of plastic trash that flows into the oceans every year is expected to nearly triple by 2040 to 29 million metric tons according to studies.

There are now an estimated 30 metric tonnes of plastic waste in seas and oceans, and a further 109 metric tonnes has accumulated in rivers.

As a result, marine wildlife such as seabirds, whales, fish and turtles mistake plastic waste for prey; most then die of starvation as their stomachs become filled with plastic.

They also suffer from lacerations, infections, reduced ability to swim, and internal injuries.

Closing the finance gap

According to Jeff Ardon, The Ocean Governance Adviser at Commonwealth secretariat, limited funding to ocean related projects is still a challenge.

"Commonwealth is an ocean commonwealth. 87 percent of commonwealth countries border the ocean. Commonwealth countries are stewards of approximately 45 percent of coral reefs and 34 percent of global mangroves,” he said.

However, he said: "The importance of the ocean is not matched by climate change funding. Although about 20-30 percent of published climate research is about the ocean, governments are seeing less than 1/10th these levels of support,” he said.

In order to increase climate funding for the ocean, in November, the Commonwealth blue charter contracted an ocean-climate finance expert to assist countries with finance applications and so far, five countries have been supported.