Marine Debris Program Supports DOC Business Roundtables at Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum
DEC. 4, 2023 — From November 13-17, global leaders met to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in San Francisco, California. The NOAA Marine Debris Program California Regional Coordinator, Christy Kehoe, attended sustainability and business roundtables facilitated by the Department of Commerce (DOC) U.S. Commercial Service Northern California District of Export Council. The meetings were hosted by the Commonwealth of Australia and the Republic of the Philippines. The overarching goal of these meetings was to foster relationships between the private sector and governments across our shared Pacific Ocean. This included mutual interest in addressing plastic pollution.
APEC operates as a cooperative, multilateral economic and trade forum. It is the only international intergovernmental grouping in the world committed to reducing barriers to trade and investment without requiring its members to enter into legally binding obligations. Every year, one of the 21 APEC member economies hosts APEC meetings. DOC presented the Export Achievement Award to Bay Area renewable energy and remote sensing companies.
On November 13, Kehoe attended the DOC U.S. Commercial Service-Oakland’s side meeting on security, sustainability, and business hosted by the Commonwealth of Australia. On November 16, Kehoe attended the U.S. Commercial Service-Oakland’s sustainability and business roundtable co-hosted by the Republic of the Philippines. Other attendees included diverse sectors including innovative technology, renewable energy, remote sensing, natural resource management, and defense. Both meetings included a roundtable discussion of each attendee’s work and how it relates to sustainability. There was shared interest by both country representatives to work on addressing waste management.
During both meetings, Kehoe shared the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s mission to address and investigate the adverse impacts of marine debris. She highlighted NOAA’s holistic approach to addressing the issue through prevention, removal, response, monitoring and detection, and coordination. Other attendees included representatives from the Northern California private sector. This was a great opportunity to connect with diverse private sector members to support blue technology and reduce plastic waste.