The British High Commission will mark World Oceans Day on 8
June 2020 with the Blu Hope campaign, a first of its kind
online campaign which runs from 8th to 12th June 2020. The
campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of the
world’s oceans, how plastic pollution is damaging ocean
biodiversity and to encourage action in tackling marine
pollution.
The campaign encompasses an interactive home-based activity
sheet aimed at encouraging children to think more
holistically about their plastic usage habits; as well as a
series of marine-themed webinars targeted toward
businesses, policy makers and academia to encourage
discourse and inform policy making. This campaign is
supported by the Malaysian Ministry of Education, Ministry
of Environment and Water. Other partners include Plastic
Oceans UK, Mura Technology, TimorBlue, WRAP, Asia Dive
Expo, ZuBlu and YTL.
H.E. Charles Hay MVO, British High Commissioner to
Malaysia, said:
Collaboration is at the heart of tackling the global
problem of plastic pollution in the oceans. This is why
I’m very pleased that the UK is working with Malaysia and
international partners on such an important cause. This
Blu Hope campaign showcases not just international
collaboration to raise awareness, but also research,
science and technology that is being deployed to help
create a plastic neutral circular economy.
Tackling plastic pollution is one of the UK Government’s
commitments in the broader agenda of conserving the
environment and addressing climate change. The UK is
championing these causes and will be co-chairing the very
important United Nations’ Climate Change Conference of
Parties or COP26 in November 2021.
This online campaign, which is well-suited to the current
environment where people are encouraged to stay home, will
enable children in Malaysia, SE Asia and beyond to
participate by doing the ‘Plastic Detectives’ activity
sheet which is available in Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and
English languages. The activity challenges children to
record and track their household plastic consumption for
one week (8th to 14th June) and upload their findings on
the campaign website. The data and findings will be tallied
with the objective of informing future policy on plastic.
To further promote participation, the Ministry of Education
Malaysia will disseminate the activity sheet to 10,000
public primary and secondary schools in Malaysia.
The special lesson plan and activity sheet was developed by
British NGO Plastic Oceans UK. Jo Ruxton, its founder and
director, said:
Since our work began in 2009, I have been delivering
presentations on plastic to school pupils of all age
groups. I’ve seen how effectively these students take
that message on to their friends, relatives and even
their teachers. Our ‘Plastic Detectives’ activity sheet
will engage those young minds. But it will also show how
much single-use plastic has entered into our homes,
unnoticed. We hope that those who take part, with their
families, will feel a new sense of responsibility to
break the plastic habit. We’re empowering young leaders
to become plastic intelligent through our behaviour
change programmes.
The live webinars and online panel discussions will feature
a line-up of Malaysian and international speakers. Among
the topics which will be covered are oceans and
biodiversity; protection of mangrove and corals;
sustainable tourism, chemical recycling among others. There
will also be sessions where eco warriors and professional
divers will share tales and tips and also daily screenings
of ‘A Plastic Ocean’. These webinars and online discussions
have been made possible with the help of Asia Dive Expo
(ADEX) who will co-host the sessions.
The Plastic Detective activity sheet, webinar schedule and
other campaign materials are available at Blu Hope.
Blu Hope is the third phase of the British High
Commission’s ongoing Green is GREAT campaign, which was
first launched in September 2019 with the VVIP screening of
BBC’s Blue Planet II graced by TRHs The Prince Edward Earl
of Wessex and Tengku Zatashah binti Sultan Sharafuddin
Idris Shah. The second phase of the Green is GREAT campaign
was held in conjunction with Commonwealth Day in March this
year.
