A global campaign launched by the United Nations Environment Programme calls for everyone to stop using microplastics and excessive use of single-use plastic, to save the world’s seas and oceans from irreversible damage.
“Plastic pollution is surfing onto Indonesian beaches, settling onto the ocean floor at the North Pole, and rising through the food chain onto our dinner tables,” said Erik Solheim, executive director of UNEP, in a statement released Feb. 23 in New York.
“We’ve stood by too long as the problem has gotten worse,” Solheim said.
“It must stop.”
Through its Clean Seas campaign, UNEP has urged countries and businesses to take ambitious measures to eliminate microplastics from personal-care products, ban or tax single-use plastic bags, and dramatically reduce other disposable plastic items by 2022.
According to UNEP, each year more than 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in oceans, impacting marine wildlife, fisheries and tourism, and cost at least $8 billion in damage to marine ecosystems. According to estimates, by 2050, oceans will have more plastic than fish if present trends are not arrested.
Actions to stem the growing tide of maritime litter could include reducing use of single-use plastics at the individual level, such as by using reusable shopping bags and water bottles, choosing products without microbeads and plastic packaging, and not using straws to drink, the agency said.
The UN environmental agency urges a ban of microplastics in cosmetics and personal care products.
