The 15-member Caribbean Group (CARICOM) grouping on Monday mentioned it’s dedicated to addressing the difficulty of plastic air pollution and selling sustainable consumption and manufacturing patterns as the worldwide neighborhood observes World Atmosphere Day.
The day was being noticed beneath the theme for 2023 “Options to plastic air pollution” and CARICOM mentioned that plastic air pollution is among the most “urgent environmental challenges of our time, affecting our oceans, wildlife, well being and local weather”.
In keeping with the UN Atmosphere Program (UNEP), greater than eight million tonnes of plastic find yourself within the oceans yearly, equal to dumping a rubbish truck of plastic each minute. Plastic additionally contributes to greenhouse gasoline emissions at each stage of its lifecycle, from manufacturing to disposal.
“CARICOM is dedicated to addressing the difficulty of plastic air pollution and selling sustainable consumption and manufacturing patterns,” the regional grouping mentioned, noting that it has taken “some actions” according to the theme of World Atmosphere Day 2023.
CARICOM mentioned it has adopted a regional technique for the administration of marine litter and microplastics, which goals to scale back the era and impression of plastic waste on the marine setting and human well being.
The technique was articulated by regional leaders at their summit in Antigua in 2019 and kind a part of the St. John’s Declaration that features measures similar to banning single-use plastics, selling round economic system fashions, enhancing waste assortment and recycling techniques, and elevating public consciousness and schooling.
“CARICOM is supporting its member states in growing and implementing nationwide insurance policies and laws to handle plastic air pollution and promote sustainable growth. For instance, a number of CARICOM international locations have already banned or restricted single-use plastics and styrofoam merchandise, similar to Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago,” mentioned the regional physique.
It mentioned that these bans and different trade-related coverage responses have been mentioned amongst regional commerce ministers within the CARICOM Council for Commerce and Financial Improvement (COTED) and that the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat subsequently commissioned an ongoing examine to discover the financial and technical steering of plastics alternate options and varied bans to help the member state transition.
As well as, CARICOM member states supported UNEP’s initiative because it launched a regional marketing campaign referred to as “Clear Seas Caribbean” in 2021, which inspires governments, companies and people to take motion to scale back plastic air pollution and defend marine biodiversity.
The marketing campaign helps initiatives similar to seaside clean-ups, plastic-free occasions, inexperienced procurement insurance policies, and innovation challenges.
In the meantime, senior setting officers will meet on June 19 to debate urgent environmental points, together with a method ahead in coordinating CARICOM engagement in the course of the negotiation of a world legally binding treaty to scale back plastics air pollution.
The assembly precedes the ministerial convention later this month in the course of the 108th Particular Assembly of the Council of Commerce and Financial Improvement – Atmosphere and Sustainable Improvement (COTED).
“By taking these and different actions, CARICOM is demonstrating its management and dedication to tackling plastic air pollution holistically and defending the setting for current and future generations. World Atmosphere Day 2023 is a chance for all of us to affix forces and take motion for a cleaner and greener Caribbean,” mentioned the entity.
CMC/