AfDB wants action against plastic pollution
News & Trends •
the african development bank afdb has called for a collective action against plastic pollution in africa1 the communication officer climate change and green growth department of the bank mrs sonia borrini said on sunday in abuja that plastic pollution is alarming and dangerous to the environment. . her call is coming on the heels of the 2018 world environment day slated for june 5 with the theme beat plastic pollution.1 every year 500 billion plastic bags are used around the world 13 million tonnes of plastic leak into the ocean and 17 million barrels of oil are used on plastic production1 about100000 marine animals are killed by plastics and 83 per cent of tap water are found to contain plastic particles1 in particular it is impacting the ocean which is the lungs of our planet providing most of the oxygen we breathe major source of food and medicines and a critical part of the biosphere afdb said1 afdb said it would join the rest of the world to celebrate the world environment day on june 5 as well as the world ocean day on june 8 with focus on preventing plastic pollution and encouraging solutions for a healthy ocean1 it said through this initiative the bank was reconfirming its commitment to playing a leadership role in ensuring environmental sustainability while supporting economic prosperity and social inclusion in africa1 according to the bank world environmental day wed 2018 is a call to action for africa to come together to combat plastic pollution one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time1 it said the celebration would afford stakeholders the opportunity to consider how they could make changes in their everyday lives to reduce the heavy burden of plastic pollution on the natural and human environment1 the bank said that the use of plastic had severe environmental and health consequences1