Affects health from infants to the elderly: "plastic crisis" costs $1.5 trillion and pressures the world
Kyiv • UNN
Plastic production has increased more than 200-fold since 1950, causing illness and death, and inflicting at least $1.5 trillion in damage annually. Negotiations for a global treaty to limit plastic production are accompanied by deep disagreements between countries.
A new expert report warns that plastic production has increased more than 200-fold and is a serious and insufficiently recognized human health problem.
UNN reports with reference to The Guardian and Lancet.
Details
The world is in a "plastic crisis" that causes illness and death in people of all ages, and causes at least $1.5 trillion in damage annually.
The acceleration of plastic production since 1950 has increased more than 200-fold.
It is also indicated that there is a risk that by 2060, plastic production could triple, reaching over a billion tons per year.
Reference
Plastic has many important uses. For example:
- the production of single-use plastic products is rapidly growing;
- beverage bottles and fast-food containers are widely used.
As a result, plastic pollution has rapidly increased. 8 billion tons of plastic now pollute the entire planet - from the top of Everest to the deepest ocean trench, the review says.
At the same time, less than 10% of plastic is recycled.
Plastic restrictions in question, countries have not yet overcome differences
The 6th round of negotiations between more than 100 countries on concluding a global treaty on restrictions in plastic production will take place soon.
The negotiations are accompanied by deep disagreements
There are those who support restrictions on plastic production. There are also oil states, such as Saudi Arabia, that oppose this proposal. It seems that oil states and plastic industry lobbyists have so far successfully disrupted the negotiations.
Expert comment
We know a lot about the scale and severity of the health and environmental impacts of plastic pollution. Vulnerable populations, especially infants and children, suffer the most. This leads to huge economic costs for society. We are obliged to act in response
Recall
Plastic not only pollutes the environment, but also contributes to global climate warming.
New research has shown that the climate crisis threatens bananas. Almost two-thirds of the territories in Latin America may become unsuitable for growing bananas by 2080.
2023 set records for climate threats to human health. Experts call on governments to reorient finances from fossil fuels to clean energy.