By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The US and France announced support on Friday for a global deal on cutting plastic pollution, as the world’s ecosystems become increasingly clogged with millions of tonnes of synthetic waste that take many centuries to break down.
The two countries stressed in a joint statement the “importance of curbing” plastic pollution “at its source” through an international accord to be negotiated at a UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, this month.
They called for a “global agreement to address the full lifecycle of plastics and promote a circular economy”.
It should feature “binding and non-binding commitments, call on countries to develop and implement ambitious national action plans and foster robust engagement of stakeholders to contribute towards the agreement’s objectives”, the statement said.
About 8 million tonnes of plastic waste enters the oceans every year, most of it discarded on land or washed into rivers, said the Clean Oceans Initiative, which is led by European development banks.
This week, the environmental group World Wildlife Fund said that vast marine areas could have dangerous levels of microplastic concentration by the end of the century unless humankind cuts down on waste and pollution.
The French-American statement was released as leaders met at the One Ocean Summit on France’s Atlantic coast to discuss protecting the planet’s oceans from overfishing, pollution and other threats.
At the talks, mayors and politicians from maritime cities signed the Sea’ties initiative, a pact to fight the erosion of coastal cities, a problem that is worsening due to climate change.
