UN signals 'end' of throwaway plastic. By Roger Harrabin
The end of the era
of throwaway plastic has been signalled by UN environment ministers meeting in
Kenya. They signed off a
document stating that the flow of plastic into the ocean must be stopped.
Scientists welcomed
the statement, but were unhappy the agreement was only based in principle, with
no firm targets or timetables.
Ministers say it's a
milestone because it shows governments, industry and the public that a major
change is needed. Vidar Helgesen,
Norway's Environment Minister, has been leading the UN debate on plastic
pollution. He told BBC News:
"What we came here with was the need for action. The starting point was
aiming for zero emission of marine litter. So it's effectively a breakthrough
for zero emission of plastic into the ocean."
He admitted that this
was really only the start of action against plastic litter. Li Lin from WWF
International told BBC News: "Today we have seen quite good progress on
marine litter and micro-plastics… read more:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42252233