Currently, plastic – which can take decades to millions of years to decompose – accounts for 85 percent of all marine litter.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced today in Nairobi his country’s support for the negotiation of a global treaty to combat plastic pollution and save life in the oceans on Earth.
In a speech at the headquarters of the UN Environment Program (UNEP), Blinken expressed Washington’s support “for multilateral negotiations on a global agreement to combat plastic pollution of the oceans.”
“By launching these negotiations at the UN Environment Assembly in February 2022 (in Nairobi), our goal is to create a tool that we can use to protect our oceans and all the life they sustain from the increasing global damages of plastic pollution.” , stressed the Secretary of State.
The head of US diplomacy considered it “crucial” that this treaty “ask countries to develop and implement solid national action plans to tackle this root problem.”
“As we know, our health, our survival, is linked to the health of our oceans. We have to do more to protect them,” Blinken added, on the last day of his two-day visit to Kenya as part of an African tour that will take him. it will also take Nigeria and Senegal this week.
For her part, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen applauded the Secretary of State’s announcement in favor of “multilateral negotiations” on a global agreement against plastic pollution of the oceans.
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Currently, plastic – which can take decades to millions of years to decompose – accounts for 85 percent of all marine litter, according to UN data.
By 2040, that pollution will almost triple, adding 23 to 37 million tons of waste to the ocean per year, which means about 50 kilos of plastic per meter of shoreline.
Therefore, the UN insistently warns, all marine life (from plankton and shellfish to birds, turtles and mammals) faces the risk of poisoning, behavioral disorders, starvation and suffocation.
In addition, the human body is equally vulnerable, as plastics are ingested through shellfish, beverages, and even common salt, and they also penetrate the skin and are inhaled when suspended in the air. (I)
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