UN Secretary-General António Guterres
This World Environment Day focuses on solutions to beat plastic pollution. And rightly so.
Plastic pollution is choking our planet – harming ecosystems, well-being, and the climate. Plastic waste clogs rivers, pollutes the ocean, and endangers wildlife.
And as it breaks-down into smaller and smaller parts, it infiltrates every corner of Earth: from the top of Mount Everest, to the depths of the ocean; from human brains; to human breastmilk.
Yet there is a movement for urgent change.
UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen
Plastic pollution impacts every ecosystem and every person on this planet.
By 2040, plastic leakage to the environment is predicted to grow by 50 per cent, and that pollution creeps into our bodies through the food we eat, the water we drink, and even the air that we breathe.
But we can unleash and unite to unleash innovative solutions, solutions that tackle the life cycle of plastics, solutions that enable the deployment of alternatives and ultimately drive down plastic pollution leaking into our environment.
Solutions that rethink how products are designed and how we make, use and reuse plastics and solutions that help protect our health, our environment and our communities.
The world is closing in on a global treaty to end plastic pollution.
So on World Environment Day, let's all recommit to beat plastic pollution once and for all.
