CleanSeas Campaign Declares War on Ocean Plastic Baher Kamal - Inter Press Service
go to original March 2, 2017

Clean Seas - teaser (UN Environment)

The available data is enough for the United Nations to literally declare war on oceans plastic: more than 8 million tonnes of leaks into their waters each year – equal to dumping a garbage truck of plastic every minute, wreaking havoc on marine wildlife, fisheries and tourism, and costing at least 8 billion dollars in damage to marine ecosystems.

In fact, the Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has launched an unprecedented global campaign to eliminate major sources of marine litter: micro-plastics in cosmetics and the excessive, wasteful usage of single-use plastic by the year 2022.

Launched at the Economist World Ocean Summit in Bali, the #CleanSeas campaign urges governments to pass plastic reduction policies; targeting industry to minimize plastic packaging and redesign products; and calling on consumers to change their throwaway habits – before irreversible damage is done to the seas.

Erik Solheim, UNEP’s Executive Director, said, “It is past time that we tackle the plastic problem that blights our oceans. 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. We’ve stood by too long as the problem has gotten worse. It must stop.”

Throughout the year, the #CleanSeas campaign will be announcing ambitious measures by countries and businesses to eliminate micro-plastics from personal care products, ban or tax single-use bags, and dramatically reduce other disposable plastic items.

The #CleanSeas campaign is a global movement targeting governments, industry and consumers to urgently reduce the production and excessive use of plastic that is polluting the earth’s oceans, damaging marine life and threatening human health.

The UN environment body aims to transform all spheres of change –habits, practices, standards and policies around the globe to dramatically reduce marine litter and the harm it causes.

So far, ten countries have already joined the campaign with far-reaching pledges to turn the plastic tide: Belgium, Costa Rica, France, Grenada, Indonesia, Norway, Panama, Saint Lucia, Sierra Leone and Uruguay.

Read the rest at Inter Press Service | En español

Related: New Study Helps Explain How Garbage Patches Form in the World's Oceans (EurekAlert)

Related: ActOnClimate: Microfibers | The New Plastic Pollution That Threatens Our Waters (Voices for Mother Earth)

Related: How Listening to the Ocean Can Help Reveal Environmental Damage (Ensia)

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