The Clean Oceans Initiative reaches a third of its target in its first year and welcomes ICO´s commitment to join the initiative

Joint Initiative on Circular Economy (JICE) goes even beyond recycling

At the IMF/World Bank Group meetings, KfW on behalf of the German Federal Government, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) reported progress on the Clean Oceans Initiative. The partners welcome ICO´s (Spanish development Bank) commitment to join the initiative.

After its first year of operation, the Clean Oceans Initiative has provided more than EUR 700 million long-term financing for projects to reduce and recycle marine litter and waste collected on land, especially plastics and untreated wastewater discharge. The goal of the initiative is to finance €2 billion in public and private sector projects over five years.

Projects supported so far include improved sanitation in Ratmalana and Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, Solid waste management in Lomé, Togo, Stormwater management and flooding in Cotonou, Benin, Water and sanitation in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wastewater management in Cape Town, South Africa, Green urban financing and innovation in the Yangtze River Delta in China.

The Clean Oceans Initiative identifies projects that fight plastic waste in rivers, seas and on land, with a particular focus on riverine and coastal areas in developing countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. This is because a significant amount of plastic waste entering the oceans comes from 10 major river systems located in Africa and Asia, which lack access to regular waste collection and controlled waste disposal systems, as well as adequate wastewater and stormwater management systems.

Dr. Günther Bräunig, Chef Executive Officer of KfW, said: “The promising progress and the significant contribution to the preservation of the oceans are obvious and show us, that we are on the right track. But we would like to go even further and draw the attention also to the Joint Initiative on Circular Economy (JICE), launched in July by various European partners. It goes beyond recycling and starts already at the beginning of circular value chains within the EU with total financings of EUR 10 billion. Hence, COI and JICE may be considered as complementary initiatives with the common target to significantly reduce the threats to the environment and to the oceans caused by excessive waste consumption, in particular plastic waste. The motto is: prevent, reuse, recycle!”

For more information on JICE:

https://www.kfw.de/stories/dossier-circular-economy.html

The film "Circular Economy – how we support it!

https://www.kfw.de/stories/environment/natural-resources/animation-movie-circular-economy/