Healthy oceans are critical for life on earth through their regulation of global climate and water systems, and through sustaining the natural resources that provide 17% of the global population’s animal protein intake. Many communities also rely on oceans for their livelihoods. The earth’s oceans are under ever increasing pressure from direct pollution and eutrophication, climate change, and fishing and aquaculture. Ocean plastic and debris are increasing rapidly; at this rate, it is estimated that there will be more plastic debris than fish in the world’s oceans by 2050, presenting a huge risk to ocean and human life.

In Malaysia, our CSR focus and efforts are centered on the preservation of our marine ecosystems. American Express is committed to raising awareness on the impact of marine plastic pollution. In addition, we are doing our part to care for the oceans, coastal communities, and life under water. This has taken us to various parts of the country, east and west coast alike. At every location, we hope we have left beaches and reefs cleaner, saved endangered species while preserving the current ecosystem for future marine life.

Zooming in on United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) SDG #14: Life Below Water, where the focus is on “conserving and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development,” PMM’s efforts have been greatly focused on reducing cigarette filter litter which contaminates rivers and oceans and is shown to be one of the most polluted materials in ocean clean-ups. To this end, PMM is piloting a cigarette filter canister initiative, where we will be partnering with Reef Check Malaysia to install close to 200 cigarette bins across the country.