Plastic is a major problem for the planet and for biodiversity. This year will be important for the negotiation of a global treaty to slow its impact. Plastic is everywhere – in clothes, phones, sunscreen, but increasingly in the marine food chain. How do we solve this problem? Countries are trying to find a solution and this year will be critical. The negotiations, which began last year and are scheduled to continue until 2023, will lead to the signing of a plastic treaty, expected by the end of 2024. The negotiations will have to reach an agreement between the two conflicting perspectives on plastic: it is a technological marvel that has made a host of goods affordable and revolutionized medicine, but is also a major contributor to climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Increasing consumption around the world means that the volume of plastic waste ending up in waterways will more than double, and perhaps even triple, by 2040.
Source: New York Times