At 350
, we try to keep our ears to the ground for good news. It's often harder to find when the the news you're reading deals with the unraveling fabric of the earth's natural systems.
But! This morning I got a press release that I felt hopeful about. For some time now, I've been reading about the giant pools of plastic that drift in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Too small to further break down, they're swallowed by lots of living things that weren't made to eat plastic. Moreover, these so called "garbage patches" are a sad reminder of how connected our waste is to the homes of others.
Today I learned that the UN is spearheading a team of people to make a plan to get on top of this. Before you laught or cry at that level of incrementalism: a plan about a process is a good step in the wacky world of the UN.
Some of the elements of the resolution are:
-Participate in a global network of stakeholders committed to understanding, preventing, reducing and managing marine debris in an environmentally sustainable manner;
-Contribute to the development and successful implementation of the Honolulu Strategy – a
global platform for the prevention, reduction and management of marine debris – and its periodic review
-Facilitate initiatives that turn waste into a resource in an environmentally sustainable manner
It demonstrated to me once again that we need multilateralism. What single country can grapple with waste in the oceans the whole world shares? All the more can be said about the necessity of an all-in strategy to protect the earth's climate.
I continue to fervently hope that this Marine Debris commitment leads to real results. And maybe comes up with a better name. But that's a subject for another post!