What can we do?
To adequately address this issue, we need “upstream” governance actions that can help reduce the amount of plastic that enters the environment. Recycling is one example, but that captures only a small portion of waste plastic. Other actions include putting in place financial disincentives to produce and use of plastic materials. Marine plastic pollution is already harming marine life and threatening biodiversity. There is an urgent need to reverse this trend to avoid further damage.
Marine Litter Vital Graphics follows a UNEP report that looked at how large plastic debris and “microplastics” are omnipresent from the Arctic to the Antarctic. It advocates for taking preventative action to safeguard our planet and oceans.
Credit: UNEP.
