A historic resolution was reached at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi on 2nd March. Representatives from 175 nations endorsed a resolution to end plastic pollution and create an international legally binding agreement by 2024. The resolution addresses the full lifecycle of plastic, including production, design and disposal.
As well as climate change implications and impacts on human health waste plastic is having an increasingly major impact on the marine environment. Figures quoted by UNEP include:
- More than 800 marine and coastal species are affected by this pollution through ingestion, entanglement, and other dangers.
- Some 11 million tonnes of plastic waste flow annually into oceans. This may triple by 2040.
- A shift to a circular economy can reduce the volume of plastics entering oceans by over 80 per cent by 2040.
For more information and to read the treaty click here.
