World agrees on first global commitment to curb single-use plastics
https://www.dw.com/en/world-agrees-on-first-global-commitment-to-curb-single-use-plastics/a-47938697
World agrees on first global commitment to curb single-use plastics
Date 15.03.2019
United Nations member states agreed on Friday to "significantly reduce" single-use plastics over the next decade. The pledge came after marathon talks with nearly 200 ministers at the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi, Kenya.
Nations pledged to "address the damage to our ecosystems ... including by significantly reducing single-use plastic products by 2030," according to the summit's final statement. The move will seek to curb the use of single-use plastic products such as bags, cups, cutlery and drinking straws.
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Although Friday's agreement marks the first global commitment to curb plastics, environmentalist groups said the pledges do not go far enough to urgently address the growing pollution crisis that is threatening the world.
The final text of the document was also significantly weakened by the United States, according to negotiators.Most nations, including the European Union members, backed a proposal by India that would have seen governments commit to "phasing out most problematic single-use plastics by 2025."
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