‘Toxic tidal wave’ of plastic pollution putting human rights at risk
The world must combat the “toxic tidal wave” of plastic pollution that threatens human rights, two UN independent experts said on Thursday.
The world must combat the “toxic tidal wave” of plastic pollution that threatens human rights, two UN independent experts said on Thursday.
Campaigners are ramping up pressure on the government to push for an ambitious outcome from the United Nations negotiations on a Global Plastic Treaty.
A United Nations committee is meeting in Paris to work on what is intended to be a landmark treaty to bring an end to global plastic pollution, but there is little agreement on what the outcome should be. The self-named “high ambition coalition” of countries, led by Norway and Rwanda, want limits on plastic production and restrictions on some of the chemicals used in plastics. But plastic-producing countries and gas exporters, including the United States, Saudi Arabia and China, want the treaty to have a more limited scope to address plastic waste and scale up recycling. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels.