China , Indonesia , the Philippines and Thailand have pledged their commitment to reducing plastic pollution in the world ’s seas at the United Nations ( UN ) first - ever ocean summit . The Chinese government claims to have developed a 20-year strategy to combat such pollution , Indonesia is encouraging mass education about plastic waste for schoolchildren and the Philippines is formulating new laws to tackle the problem . The pledges have not yet been formalised and have been criticised as inadequate by campaigners . In Thailand, the total amount of garbage finding its way into the sea was estimated at 2.83 million tonnes in 2016 - of which 12% was plastic. However , UN officials commented that the moves were encouraging and showed that nations were beginning to take the issue seriously .
China , Indonesia , the Philippines and Thailand have pledged their commitment to reducing plastic pollution in the world ’s seas at the United Nations ( UN ) first - ever ocean summit . The Chinese government claims to have developed a 20-year strategy to combat such pollution , Indonesia is encouraging mass education about plastic waste for schoolchildren and the Philippines is formulating new laws to tackle the problem . The pledges have not yet been formalised and have been criticised as inadequate by campaigners . However , UN officials commented that the moves were encouraging and showed that nations were beginning to take the issue seriously .