The Roles of Science Diplomacy in Combating Global Plastic Pollution

Funded by UKRI QR-SPT funding, this project aims to explore the roles of science diplomacy in combating the global plastic pollution. The research particularly focuses on investigating: 1) the extant work in science diplomacy, especially in the focused area of environmental conservation; 2) how science diplomacy has been practised; 3) the impacts of science diplomacy; and 4) the future scenarios of science diplomacy to inform, promote and influence global debates and outcomes of eradication of global plastic pollution.

The main deliverable of this project is a report detailing how science diplomacy has been used in informing/influencing the current and future UK environmental policy-making, nationally and internationally. The examples of policies are those that address the level of plastic pollution in the environment and specifically address the above objectives.

The project supports the UK plastic PACT targets by 2025, and also the UK foreign policy agenda, related to the global reduction of plastic waste. This project is a collaborative effort with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to address the crucial challenge facing the sustainability of our planet. The amount of plastic waste entering the environment is a global perennial problem that leaves every member state worse off. 

This project has received strong support from the Indonesian Embassy in London, and under the auspices of the UK-Indonesia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Sciences (UKICIS).