UN treaty is needed to tackle plastics crisis

A robust, binding international agreement is now the only way to handle the plastic crisis, says the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA).

The EIA issued the recommendation following a deluge of new evidence showing the extent of plastic pollution across the planet, and its devastating impact. 

Everything from the air we breathe to the food we eat has become contaminated, with the problem expected to grow exponentially worse in the coming years if extreme action is not taken. 

‘The visible nature of plastic pollution has generated huge public concern but the vast majority of plastic pollution impacts are invisible,’ said the EIA’s Tom Gammage. ‘There is a deadly ticking clock counting swiftly down… If this tidal wave of pollution continues unchecked, the anticipated plastics in the seas by 2040 could exceed the collective weight of all fish in the ocean.’

Plastics feature in the United Nations list of three environmental threats considered ‘existential’ – climate change, loss of biodiversity, and pollution. The international body believes these must be tackled at the same time in order to have the desired overall impact. 

More than 100 countries, including the UK and US, now back calls for a new UN treaty on these issues, which will be proposed at the next UN Environment Assembly in February and March 2022. Debate continues as to how far-reaching this should be, and it is worth noting multilateral agreements on the environment have existed for almost three decades, but fundamental issues like rising CO2 levels prevail. 

In related news, last December a study by the University of York found that microplastics could directly harm human cells.

Photo credit: Frederic Köberl