At a United Nations conference held in Kenya, world leaders agreed to collaborate in the largest-ever effort to stem the tide of plastic pollution.
The UN Environment Assembly has voted to adopt a resolution that paves the way for a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution by 2024. The vote was unanimous, with almost 200 nations agreeing to create an intergovernmental committee to negotiate the terms of the treaty.
Head of the UN Environment Programme, Inger Andersen, said on Wednesday that the plastics treaty would mark a “historic moment”, adding that it would be the most significant environmental pact since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
But she also called for caution: “As we embark on this journey, let us be clear that the agreement will only truly count if it has clear provisions that are legally binding.”
The final treaty details are still being negotiated. They could include a ban of new plastic production and take into consideration all aspects of plastic pollution, including particles in the soil and food chain.
One-third (33%) of sea turtles killed off Turkey’s Mediterranean Coast by plastic waste
How big of a problem is plastic pollution?
Plastic is one the most useful materials on Earth. Plastic is used in everything, from packaging food to creating the fibers for our clothes. It is used in everything from building materials to medical masks.
Plastic is also responsible for polluting waterways and destroying ecosystems.
In 1950, the world produced almost 2 million tons plastic. The annual plastic production is now more than 200x greater.
In 2017, a landmark study revealed that only 9% of all plastic used in history has been recycled while the remaining 12% was burned.
The rest was discarded as litter or in landfills.
Environmental activists built a plastic museum using bottles from local rivers.
Why is plastic so dangerous?
Plastic’s two most valuable attributes are also its greatest danger: It is both cheap and difficult to break down.
Single-use plastics are inexpensive enough to throw away and reuse around the globe. Plastic that is ingested into ecosystems doesn’t naturally decompose so it stays there for hundreds upon hundreds of years. It can choke fish, entangle bird and leak toxins.
Plastic does eventually disintegrate. It first breaks down into microplastics then nanoplastics. The plastic’s size is what the names are. Microplastics can be found in the most remote and unspoiled areas of the planet, including high glaciers, deep oceans, and even food. It is not clear what the long-term health effects are of eating plastics or what levels should be considered to be dangerous.
Plastic is durable for hundreds of year in nature, unless it’s carefully collected
How does plastic affect marine life?
Plastic that lands in rivers eventually reaches oceans.
In February, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), commissioned a study that found that areas like the Mediterranean and East China Seas had exceeded the critical thresholds for plastic pollution. The harmful effects of plastics on 88% of 297 species was documented by scientists from Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute.
“We knew it was bad,” stated Heike Vesper, director for WWF Germany’s Marine Program. “But we didn’t know that it was so bad or that the outlook was so grim.”
Plastic waste was found in the deepest oceans
Even if all plastic pollution were stopped today, the oceans will continue to accumulate more microplastic as larger pieces of plastic break down.
The researchers looked at the plans of the chemical industry to increase production and estimated that there would be a fourfold increase in ocean plastic concentrations by 2050. They also expect 50-fold increase of microplasticconcentrations by the end of the century.
Petrochemical and fossil fuel industries are closely linked
What does plastic have with climate change
Both plastic pollution and climate change are separate crises, but they are connected. They share a common cause: The fossil fuel industry.
Most plastic is made of chemicals derived from fossil gas and crude oil. According to the International Energy Agency, petrochemicals are fast becoming the largest driver of global oil consumption, ahead of planes, trucks, and cars.
The Center for International Environmental Law is a non-profit organization that advocates for environmental protection. It estimates that plastic emissions could triple by 2050.
Edited by Tamsin Walker
