By 2050 or 26 years from now, there could be more plastic than fish in the ocean.
UN secretary general António Guterres made the startling remark during the fifth and final session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) in Busan, South Korea, last week.
Mr Guterres said 460 million tonnes of plastic were produced each year, much of which were quickly thrown away.
As delegates gathered for the INC-5 session, Mr Guterres said any forthcoming global plastic pollution treaty must address the whole life cycle of plastics.
“Microplastics in our bloodstreams are creating health problems, we’re only just beginning to understand,” the top UN official said.
Any treaty addressing the issue of plastic pollution, he said, must be “ambitious, credible and just”, and tackle single-use and short-lived plastics, waste management and measures to phase out plastic and promote alternative materials.
Mr Guterres said such commitments should enable all countries to access technologies and improve land and marine environments, while also ensuring that vulnerable communities who relied on plastic collection — such as waste pickers — were not left behind.
Meanwhile, UN Environment Program (UNEP) executive director, Inger Anderson said it was the moment of truth to take action.
“Not a single person on the planet wants plastic washing up on their shores or plastic particles circulating in their bodies, or their unborn babies,” Ms Anderson said.
She said that was a sentiment shared by the G20 group of industrialised nations.
“Waste pickers, civil society groups are fully engaged; businesses are calling for global rules to guide this future; indigenous people are speaking out; scientists are calling out the science.
“The finance sector is beginning to make moves at the international level.
“There’s also been clear signals that a deal is essential, including the G20 declaration last week, which said that G20 leaders were determined to land this treaty by the end of the year.”
More than 170 countries and over 600 observer organisations registered for one week of talks in the large port city of Busan, where South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol urged delegates to agree on a path to zero plastic pollution, for the sake of future generations.
Fiji is part of the talks as it had officially joined the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) to End Plastic Pollution, becoming its 67th member.
