Humanity is facing a plastic pollution crisis. It's said that plastic production has risen exponentially in the last decades, and now amounts to some 400 million tons per year– a figure set to double by 2040. In 2022, UN Member States agreed to start negotiating a historic new global treaty to end plastic pollution. The framework is now being negotiated throughout a series of meetings across the globe, and the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) are working on developing this international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. In conjunction with World Environment Day which was on the 5th of June, we take up the theme to #BeatPlasticPollution and speak to Mageswari Sangaralingam, a Senior Research Officer from Sahabat Alam Malaysia and the Consumers Association of Penang, about the ongoing talks, and whether a resolution to clearly take us towards a future with no plastic pollution can be a reality.

Image Credit: AlexCorv / Shutterstock.com

<p>Humanity is facing a plastic pollution crisis. It's said that plastic production has risen exponentially in the last decades, and now amounts to some 400 million tons per year– a figure set to double by 2040. In 2022, UN Member States agreed to start negotiating a historic new global treaty to end plastic pollution. The framework is now being negotiated throughout a series of meetings across the globe, and the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) are working on developing this international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. In conjunction with World Environment Day which was on the 5th of June, we take up the theme to #BeatPlasticPollution and speak to Mageswari Sangaralingam, a Senior Research Officer from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://foe-malaysia.org/">Sahabat Alam Malaysia</a> and the Consumers Association of Penang, about the ongoing talks, and whether a resolution to clearly take us towards a future with no plastic pollution can be a reality.<br><br>Image Credit: AlexCorv / <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://Shutterstock.com">Shutterstock.com</a></p>

Climate change, ferocious weather and ‘the haze’ are now part our everyday lives. How are our lifestyles connected to them, and what can we do about it? What does the economy have to do with it? Earth Matters engages with activists and experts to explore our changing relationship with the planet that we only borrow from our children.

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