AROUND 200 COUNTRIES SET TO NEGOTIATE ON GROUNDBREAKING DEAL TARGETING PLASTIC POLLUTION

Tue 29 November 2022:

Plastic pollution is a major issue; it may be found in our land, water, and even blood. Around 200 nations’ delegates gathered in Uruguay on Monday in an effort to address the problem and bring about much-needed reform.

“We know that the world has a significant addiction to plastic,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Programme, at the start of the talks which aim to pave the way towards a global treaty to combat plastic pollution.

Addressing delegates Andersen said “A plastic crisis is also a climate crisis. Plastic has a heavy carbon footprint and a heavy chemical footprint.”

The crisis as per experts can only be dealt with if an international, legally binding agreement backed by enough political will is in place.

According to estimates, a truckload of plastic waste is poured into the sea every minute, and by 2040, the volume is expected to triple.

The five-day Uruguay summit is the first phase in the negotiations to create a binding international plastics convention, as decided upon during the March UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi.

It is up for discussion what should be included in the treaty and what kind of format the two years of negotiations might take.

As per Andersen the treaty’s goal: to end plastic pollution is “ambitious” but “entirely doable”. She said that delegates will come together to “transform the entire life cycle of plastic,” starting with the production of polymers to how brands and retailers use plastic, right up to the waste produced.

“That means working with the private sector, that means working with environmentalists, that means working with communities, that means strong political leadership,” she added.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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