2017
UN Declares War on Ocean Plastic
By Baher KamalReprint
The world’ s largest beach clean-up in history on Versova beach in Mumbai, India. Credit: UNEP
ROME, Feb 23 2017( IPS)- The available data is enough for the United Nations to literally declare war on oceans plastic: more than 8 million tonnes of leaks into their waters each year – equal to dumping a garbage truck of plastic every minute, wreaking havoc on marine wildlife, fisheries and tourism, and costing at least 8 billion dollars in damage to marine ecosystems.
In fact, the Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Programme( UNEP) on February 23 launched an unprecedented global campaign to eliminate major sources of marine litter: micro-plastics in cosmetics and the excessive, wasteful usage of single-use plastic by the year 2022.
Launched at the Economist World Ocean Summit in Bali, the # CleanSeas campaign urges governments to pass plastic reduction policies; targeting industry to minimize plastic packaging and redesign products; and calling on consumers to change their throwaway habits – before irreversible damage is done to the seas.
Erik Solheim, UNEP’ s Executive Director, said,“ It is past time that we tackle the plastic problem that blights our oceans. Plastic pollution is surfing onto Indonesian
In bathroom shelves across the world lie toothpaste and facial scrubs packed with tiny plastic pieces that threaten marine life. Up to 51 trillion microplastic particles are already in our oceans! Credit: UNEP beaches, settling onto the ocean floor at the North Pole, and rising through the food chain onto our dinner tables. We’ ve stood by too long as the problem has gotten worse. It must stop.” Throughout the year, the # CleanSeas campaign will be announcing ambitious measures by countries and businesses to eliminate micro-plastics from personal care products, ban or tax single-use bags, and dramatically reduce other disposable plastic items.
The # CleanSeas campaign is a global movement targeting governments, industry and consumers to urgently reduce the production and excessive use of plastic that is polluting the earth’ s oceans, damaging marine life and threatening human health.“ We don’ t need to invent or negotiate something new, we just need to have action to implement what we already agreed upon.”- Isabella Lovin, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden.
The UN environment body aims to transform all spheres of change – habits, practices, standards and policies around the globe to dramatically reduce marine litter and the harm it causes.
So far, ten countries have already joined the campaign with far-reaching pledges to turn the plastic tide: Belgium, Costa Rica, France, Grenada, Indonesia, Norway, Panama, Saint Lucia, Sierra Leone and Uruguay. Pledges to Turn the Plastic Tide
Indonesia has committed to slash its marine litter by a massive 70 per cent by 2025; Uruguay will tax single-use plastic bags later this year. Costa Rica will take measures to dramatically reduce single-use plastic through better waste management and education.
And Vidar Helgesen, Minister of Climate and the Environment of Norway, said:“ Keeping our seas clean and our marine life safe from plastic is a matter of urgency for Norway. Marine plastic litter is a rapidly increasing threat to marine life, seafood safety and negatively affects the lives of people in coastal areas all around the world. Our oceans cannot wait any longer.”
Eneida de León, Minister of Housing, Territorial Planning and Environment of Uruguay, underlined:“ Our goal is to discourage the use of plastic bags through regulations, give an alternative for workers in the waste sector, and develop education plans regarding the impact of the use of plastic
22 Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • May- June 2017