THE revelation that negotiators from around the world are meeting in South Korea, in a final push to hammer out a treaty, to address the global crisis of plastic pollution may have been lost to many Fijians.
Not many of us may have been aware of this development, which makes it that much more important. Read the full report in InsideSTORY in our business section today.
It’s the fifth time the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution has convened to craft a legally binding plastic pollution accord.
According to the Australian Associated Press, in addition to the national delegations in Busan, representatives from the plastics industry, scientists and environmentalists want to shape how the world tackles the surging problem.
The United Nations says the planet is “choking on plastic”. It says it is polluting lakes, rivers, oceans and people’s bodies.
AAP reported UN Environment Program Executive Director Inger Andersen, in a message to negotiators on Monday, said: “Don’t kick the can, or the plastic bottle, down the road.”
AAP says the previous four global meetings have revealed sharp differences in goals and interests. This week’s talks go until Saturday.
Led by Norway and Rwanda, 66 countries plus the European Union, it reported, say they want to address the total amount of plastic on Earth by controlling design, production, consumption and where plastic ends up.
Island nations, according to the AAP report, are grappling with vast amounts of other countries’ plastic waste washing up on their shores.
“We think it’s the heart of the treaty, to go upstream and to get to the problem at its source,” said Dennis Clare, legal adviser and plastics negotiator for Micronesia.
“There’s a tagline, ‘You can’t recycle your way out of this problem’.”
Now on the homefront, we are reminded about the impact of plastic waste on our environment.
We are reminded about the impact it has on our marine life. And we ask the question, what are we prepared to do about that?
Take a walk along the seawall here in the Capital City of Suva and check out the rubbish, sometimes lying just beside rubbish bins.
And while you are at it, check out how some people sit on the top of tables with their feet on the seats!
There are litterbugs out there who give no second thought to discarding their rubbish wherever they feel like it. Try kayaking out in the Suva Harbour. You’ll see plastic waste floating out at sea. You’ll see empty plastic bottles, powder bottles, damaged plastic toys, plastic bags, containers and much more.
They all came from somewhere. Someone, somewhere, discarded them! Check out the waterway that winds its way up to the Bailey Bridge in Suva, and you’ll see used washing machines, old tyres and other waste stuck there when the tide is out!
Walk through any neighbourhood, chances are you’ll see used empty plastic packets of noodles, snacks, empty bottles of fizzy drinks, packets of cigarettes, used diapers, damaged household white goods, and much more. Don’t we care any more? It seems like it!
There is a solution. It is about taking responsibility for our rubbish. It is about doing the right thing and dumping that in a rubbish bin!
It lies in our sense of responsibility! And that must come from within us!
It is about caring for the environment.
Then there is the issue of plastic waste itself. Someone needs to be advocating or pushing for people to be motivated to consider the impact of plastic waste on the future of the planet!
As the world grapples with the complexities of plastic pollution, let’s cut out all the big talk here and take action! Let’s be catalysts for debate, and for change!
