On Sunday 6 October, the EU Delegation together with the embassies of EU Member States, the Cambodian Ministries of Environment and Tourism, and Young Eco Ambassadors have ended the EU Green Weeks with a public clean-up along the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers, where 500 citizens and environmental activists participated, collecting approximately 6 tons of trash of which the vast majority appears to be plastic waste.

"Plastic pollution is one of largest and most widespread environmental problem. Half of all plastics are designed to be used only once and then thrown away. 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the world’s oceans every year.  The EU encourages recycling, but recycling alone is not enough.  On behalf of the EU Delegation to Cambodia and our Member States, I call on everybody to say No to single use plastics", said Mr. Franck Viault, Chargé d' Affaires a.i. of the EU Delegation to Cambodia.

This public clean-up was one of several events organised by the EU Delegation to Cambodia and Young Eco Ambassadors to mark the EU Green Weeks in order to accelerate global action on climate change, pollution and plastic waste.  Events have started on 28 August and included:

• A full month social media campaign on the EU Single Use Plastic Strategy to encourage social media users to say "no" to single use plastics.
• A number of EU Green Weeks Community Outreach actions where the Plastic Generation of Young Eco-Ambassador met with a fishing community in Chong-Koh village and street vendors near the Chroy Changva Park to share their knowledge of single use plastics and waste management.
• A series of EU Green Weeks dialogues between 20 young eco ambassadors and the Ministry of Environment, the EU and its Member States including the embassies of the Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden, France, and the United Kingdom, to discuss the ways to address concerns over climate change, pollution and plastic waste.

Climate change is a direct and existential threat. It spares no country and requires a collective response.   The EU (Member States, Commission and the European Investment Bank) represents about 40 % of all global public climate finance. In Cambodia, the EU has been supporting climate change action in Cambodia for a long time, and has committed recently an additional €6 million to support the Royal Government's efforts to address climate change.

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