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The world currently produces more than 300 million tons of plastic a year, and there are at least 5,000 billion pieces of plastic floating in our oceans, the scientists said. By PERDIANSYAH (AFP)
On Friday, countries were to commit to "significantly reduce" single-use plastics over the next decade, in a series of voluntary pledges that green groups have warned not to attack at home. problem of pollution by the planet.
After marathon talks in Nairobi, countries appeared to have reached agreement on disposable plastic items such as bags, cups and cutlery to reduce the more than eight million tonnes of plastic entering the oceans each year .
The draft ministerial declaration – to be issued on the occasion of a day of youth protest against climate change – only twice mentions global warming caused by man, but none of the fossil fuels that cause it.
Although the final resolution still needs to be adopted, these countries have agreed to "address damage to our ecosystems through the unsustainable use and disposal of plastic products, including significantly reducing disposable plastic products from here 2030 ".
Sources close to the talks told AFP that several rich countries, led by the United States, had helped to dilute the commitment.
A first ministerial statement at the beginning of the UN badembly on the environment this week had proposed a commitment to "phasing out single-use plastics … by 2025" – a promise well stronger than the compromise that nations seem to have reached.
"It is difficult to find a single solution for all Member States," said Siim Kiisler, president of the United Nations Assembly.
"The environment is at a turning point, we do not need verbose documents, we need concrete commitments," he told reporters.
Mr Kiisler nonetheless said that he was proud that the countries had accepted the "first universal agreement" on the use of cutting plastics.
The world currently produces more than 300 million tons of plastic a year, and there are at least 5,000 billion pieces of plastic floating in our oceans, the scientists said.
Conflict of geoengineering
The UN has published this week its periodic badessment of the health of our planet.
Nearly 25% of premature deaths and illnesses are caused by anthropogenic pollution, environmental damage and lack of access to sanitation facilities, said the Global Environmental Outlook report.
Joyce Msuya, United Nations Environment Officer ad interim, said states had reached consensus on "issues vital to human and global health".
After the marathon talks in Nairobi, countries appeared to have reached agreement on disposable plastic items such as plastic bags, cups and cutlery, with the aim of reducing more than eight million tons of plastics entering in the oceans each year. By SIMON MAINA (AFP) Unlike the UN's parallel process on climate change, the environmental badembly has no legal means to enforce the promises of countries.
Another major bone of contention during the negotiations was geo-engineering, the use of large scale untested infrastructure projects to mitigate the impact of anthropogenic emissions on the climate.
A Swiss proposal to strengthen control of these potentially powerful but risky projects met with "fierce opposition" from the United States and Saudi Arabia, a source close to the talks told AFP.
Green groups are concerned that geoengineering, such as carbon capture and "solar radiation management", consisting mainly of injecting reflective materials into the atmosphere to recover more sunlight, would allow countries richer to burn fossil fuels well while seemingly committed to fighting climate change.
Even if these systems mitigated global warming, they would not solve the carbon dioxide emissions that acidify the oceans, experts say.
"They want to avoid new regulations, governance and oversight of these technologies and this is in the interest of the fossil fuel sector," said Linda Schneider, senior program officer for international climate policy at the institute. German Heinrich Boell.
Charities have given a lukewarm reception to Friday's commitments.
"World leaders have agreed on important steps for the protection of the environment," said Harheet Singh of ActionAid at AFP.
Map showing ocean trenches with a maximum depth of 10 km where scientists discovered tiny shrimp that ingested microplastics. By Jonathan WALTER (AFP) "But we can not continue to ignore the situation as a whole – rising inequality in the world is leading to unsustainable levels of consumption and destroying the world's natural resources."
Mohamed Adow of Christian Aid said that "it was expected from this meeting more things to tackle the unique existential environmental crisis of our time: climate change."
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