USAID’s Clean Cities, Blue Ocean program works to combat ocean plastics pollution and reduce waste-linked climate impacts by improving local waste management systems and recycling. In the Philippines, USAID is working to build supportive and sustainable enabling environments for circular economies that can mitigate climate change and adapt systems in response to actual and expected climate effects. Through its grantee, Project Zacchaeus (PZC), USAID is empowering informal waste collectors, known as “Eco-Warriors,” to build skills, foster leadership, and increase safety protections and livelihood opportunities while improving community waste services that reduce plastic pollution and reduce waste-linked greenhouse gas emissions. One of the Eco-Warriors, pictured here, is dressed in personal protective equipment provided by PZC's grant under CCBO during the Spring of 2021.