Waste management is one of the large environmental challenges on this planet. It has always been, since the mankind has been producing litter. As we are using more and more artificial materials, that don’t dissolve directly in the nature, the problem is only getting bigger. It’s clear, that despite of many efforts in different countries, not enough has been done to tackle these issues regionally and globally. Therefore it is important, to look into these challenges together and find possible solutions in the framework of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. “Let’s do it” is one possible great solution offered in this report.
There are many reasons why this report is especially valuable.

First of all it enables all the member countries of the Euro Mediterranean region to jointly tackle the waste clean-up issues. Some countries have good internal programs for the waste management and environmental cleanup, but all the latest research, also in this report, tells us, that the public awareness across the whole region still lacks much needed attention.

The issues of waste and litter concern us all, regardless of our political, cultural, religious or other differences. Nature as we know, does not have borders. The only borders in the world are man made. “Let’s do it “ initiative is teaching us, that we have one united ecosystem on this planet and we are all responsible for it. Therefore the waste management issues concern us all equally, regardless of the country we live in. This report will help to build bridges between the people, putting aside our differences and man-made borders of all religions, cultures and politics.

Secondly, it is an initiative, which was born directly from the free will of the citizens and was not organized or initiated by any government authority. Hence it’s a perfect example of cooperation, that helps to strengthen the civil society and build respect towards the people’s own initiatives in all countries involved. This is a true civil society project, that deserves attention and support by all our respective governments.

Thirdly, this report helps to raise public awareness of the environment and the global problem of waist. Through this initiative people develop a new understanding of the need for global cleanup. And it starts on the personal level of all of us.

People who have participated in the “Let’s do it” project, who have seen the rubbish dumped into the wild nature and who have also participated in the clean-up process with their own hands, start to think differently. They start to think twice before throwing down litter themselves and will call upon the fellow citizens to behave responsibly. They are setting a good example for the others. It’s especially important for the young generation who is only coming to understand the need for environmental responsibilities by each and every person.

I was myself as a citizen, not as a politician participating in the first pilot project in Estonia 2008 when 50 000 of people came to join hands in cleaning up the Estonian land and forests from the rubbish, that has been dumped into the nature over the years.
Considering the smallness of Estonia, it would be same as if 2 million people in Germany would come out for a joint initiative or 3% of all the people in your country.

In one day more, then 10 000 tons of illegal waste was collected from the nature in just 5 hours and disposed off or recycled. It would have taken the responsible government agencies years to achieve the same result. Not to talk about the cost, which was a fraction compared to similar paid services, since it was a voluntary action and nobody got paid of course.

Estonian visionary Mr. Rainer Nõlvak, who you have seen in the video and who also participated in the last meeting of this committee, has now earned a status, sort of a spokesperson of Estonian wild nature and environmental conciseness, who together with his team was behind the birth of this initiative. Now the same people have already taken the idea to 15 countries around the world and the list is growing.

Idea, that worked out so well in Estonia, could have a tremendous impact to the whole world if we all participate. The aim is to have a world clean-up day of 2012 in as many countries in the world as possible.

This report lays out clearly the underlying issues and concerns of the waste management and signifies the need of joint efforts between our countries.

I would like to emphasize, that although “Let’s do it” is entirely people’s initiative, it still needs support and help of all our respective parliaments and governments. The logistics of this project are enormous and some seed-money for helping out with the organizing of the world clean-up day from all our governments is needed. I hope we can all put in a good word of support in our parliaments.

Just to compare the impact, Estonian government supported the initiative “Let’s do it” with a modest half a million and got out tens of millions in return. Raise in public awareness resulting from the project was simply immeasurable. It is by far the biggest citizen’s initiative ever started in Estonia, that got unbelievably strong public support and participation.

There are many ways of cleaning up the world we live in. What way should we go?
There is also a Singapore way for example, implying enormous penalties for litter. But if people have money to pay for these fines, it still does not help us.

The writers of this report believe, that our way should be the joint efforts across all of our countries, raising awareness and joining hands across the borders, cultures and politics.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for the cooperation and support for this report and I hope, that you all agree to give your helping hand to this idea. I also hope, that you can all personally participate in the “Let’s do it” project in your own countries next year. I can assure you, that it’s a great feeling and great experience to be part of it. It gives you a sense of togetherness and unity with all the people in your countries. Rich and poor, powerful and with limited means, all who care and take part of global clean up day.

So, my honorable colleagues, “LET’S DO IT!”