Last chance: negotiations on UN plastic agreements

Environment

Last chance: negotiations on UN plastic agreements

The world sinks in plastic, particles can be found on the highest mountains and in the deepest seas. Now countries struggle for an agreement against plastic waste. What are the sticking points?

Plastic particles already contaminate every habitat of the earth and even people. US researchers found significantly more nano and microplastics in the brain and in the liver of deaths last year than in 2016. In Geneva, a last attempt to agree on a binding agreement to reduce plastic pollution began.

“Every hour counts,” said the chairman of the conference, the Ecuadorian ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso. “We create the foundations for a global tool that could change the future of environmental history.” The head of the UN Environmental Program (UNEP), Inger Andersen, admitted a number of differences between the delegations at the beginning of the negotiations. “The people who live with the garbage are outraged. We must not miss this opportunity (for a solution).” More than 160 states are there until August 14th.

The EU is considered a pioneer in many ways, for example with the ban on disposable plastic such as straws and plastic cutlery. The fact that strict standards are achieved worldwide is considered unrealistic. Why is the agreement for people in Europe still important?

“Because microplastics are spreading over the oceans and air all over the world,” says Moritz Jäger-Roschko from the Environmental Organization Greenpeace. “In addition, we use many plastic products that are not manufactured in the EU – and whose manufacturers do not adhere to EU regulations in case of doubt. In addition, Germany is also the largest plastic murderer in Europe, that is, our garbage is jointly responsible for the garbage problem worldwide.”

The WWF environmental foundation says: “Plastic waste destroys habitats, endangers animals and humans and poison ecosystems.” According to the UN Environmental Program (UNEP), people used 500 million tons of plastic worldwide, almost twice as much as 25 years earlier. 400 million tons of it should quickly end as trash, says Unep. Without measures, the amount of garbage triples until 2060. A quarter of the plastic waste in rivers and seas come from the knowledge platform “Our World in Data”, according to plastic bags and bottles.

Micro and nanoplasty is absorbed through food, water and air, like geo-ecologist Stefan Krause, professor at the University of Birmingham. “You can get to the unborn baby in the womb via the placenta.” Deposits in arteries have also been proven. Laminate and carpet floors could particularly strain crawling children. Particles that are excreted could previously release additives in the body. “Many groups of fabric influence the endocrine systems, some are carcinogenic,” says Krause. The body controls complex body functions with hormones via the endocrine system.