Let’s Get Serious about Tackling Global Scourge of Plastic Pollution

It’s that lifecycle of plastics—from production to disposal, and all the rules countries will agree to uphold surrounding this—that will be hashed out as part of the second part of the fifth session of the UN’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) on plastic pollution, culminating in a global treaty to which all nations must adhere.

As someone who works daily for the protection of freshwater resources in Canada and abroad, especially through policies backed by robust scientific evidence, it is strikingly clear to me what needs to happen over the next two weeks so that the resulting treaty emerges fit for purpose and immediately effective.

First up, we need a treaty that limits plastics production in the first place—this is because once any piece of plastic is made, it never really disappears, it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces. It’s why we have fish swimming around Toronto’s Humber Bay are stuffed to the gills with dozens of microplastics at any given moment, and microscopic remnants of bottle caps, Barbie dolls and Solo cups up in some of the remotest lakes in northern Ontario.

Long story short: nowhere in Canada (or anywhere in the world, for that matter) is free from the scourge of plastics pollution. We must turn the tap off right at the source. This also means limiting how much new plastic countries can produce, as well as finding viable alternatives to plastics.

Next, we need to take the health of the living creatures who reside in our water bodies seriously.

It should come as a stark surprise to absolutely nobody that ingesting microplastics can be harmful to fish and other species that live in water, and unfortunately much of the planet’s discarded plastics eventually end up in our oceans and freshwater ecosystems. This can lead to malnourishment, which can affect the overall health of the ecosystem. And let’s not forget that humans can ultimately end up ingesting those particles every time they eat a fish taco.

The treaty that surfaces from INC-5.2 must reduce plastic getting into to aquatic ecosystems at all points along the supply chain. Of course, that means limiting new plastic production but also implementing rigorous cleanup programs to tackle plastic that is already there.

Once it finally comes to implementing the treaty, Canada must step up and show some leadership.

I have actually been impressed by how this country has tackled the blight of plastics pollution over the past few decades—a welter of grounding in science, innovation, multi-level governance, community engagement, and international stewardship. Such a holistic approach to grappling with plastics in our environment should be heralded as a positive example of a country taking this critical issue seriously.