Pledge to stop planetary crisis
United Nations chief demands halt to the ‘ocean armageddon’ ... and even Donald Trump could sign up
MORE than 100 nations will today sign a pledge to eliminate plastic pollution from the oceans.
At a global summit yesterday envoys agreed to a zero-tolerance policy to deal with the ‘planetary crisis’.
The head of the UN’s environment programme told the 7,000 delegates the Mail should be praised for campaigning on the issue. Holding up a copy of the newspaper, headlined ‘Let’s turn the tide on plastic’, Erik Solheim said: ‘ Pollution is the biggest killer on the planet and we need to defeat it.
‘We’re facing an ocean armageddon. Every year, we’re dumping at least eight million tons of plastic in our oceans.
‘If we continue to allow this to happen, by 2050 there is going to be more plastic in the ocean than fish. To tackle the problem of marine pollution we have to make this a kitchen table conversation.
‘This is happening. For example, the Daily Mail, one of the most widely read newspapers in the world, is putting the message out and this is really positive, really fantastic.’
Today, representatives of almost all of the countries attending the conference in Kenya will sign a pledge to deliver action.
It is even likely to garner support from the United States – whose government under Donald Trump has been criticised for failing to protect the environment.
The UN resolution will establish an international task force and may also detail controls on the use of plastics and ambitions for improved recycling.
While not legally binding, it is hoped the treaty will prompt governments to set much tougher policies – and prompt business to do more. The UN Environment Assembly is the world’s highestlevel decision- making body on green policy.
Mr Solheim said: ‘A majority of 193 governments around the world will commit themselves tomorrow to preventing plastics entering the world’s oceans.’ He said there was very strong support for zero tolerance.
Sir David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II documentary for the BBC has shocked audiences with scenes of sea life, including whales, choking on plastic.
Last month researchers at Newcastle University revealed that creatures in the depths had been found with plastic in their stomachs.
Crustaceans found almost seven miles down, at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, had swallowed microscopic fragments. The Daily Mail has been at the forefront of the movement to stop plastic poisoning our seas. This newspaper has championed the carrier bag tax as well as pushing for plastic microbeads to be removed from cosmetics.
Mr Solheim said citizens had to put pressure on governments to take action – and they could help by not using throwaway cups and straws.
‘We have to stop treating the oceans like a dumping ground and we have to stop right now,’ he said. ‘We can only go so far with beach clean-ups and the like. The challenge is we have to stop plastics getting in the oceans in the first place. If we kill the oceans we kill ourselves.
‘The solutions are straightson, forward. There are plenty of natural alternatives to plastics beads in toothpaste or face scrub.
‘We don’t need food to be systematically wrapped in plastic, and we certainly don’t need plastic straws or throwaway plastic coffee cups.
‘There is no reason for plastic to end up in the ocean – it is basically happening through sheer laziness.’ Peter Thom- the UN secretary-general’s special envoy for the ocean, said: ‘There is no doubt that the meeting in Nairobi will be an important step in combating humanity’s pollution of the ocean with plastic.
‘There is no quick fix to this gigantic problem and many processes and methods will be required to correct the wrongs that we have brought upon the ocean with our plastic plague.’
Lisa Svensson, who is the UN ocean conservation chief, told the BBC: ‘This is a planetary crisis. In a few short decades since we discovered the convenience of plastics, we are ruining the ecosystem of the ocean.’
A spokesman for the Department for the Environment said: ‘Countries around the world need to take urgent action to stop plastic entering our oceans and today’s UN agreement clearly demonstrates our shared commitment.
‘At home, the UK continues to be a world leader in tackling this issue – taking nine billion plastic bags out of circulation with our 5p carrier bag charge and drawing up one of the world’s toughest bans on microbeads.’
‘There is no quick fix’