Monday, December 2

Global talks over reducing plastic pollution came to a disappointing end in South Korea yesterday, with countries failing to agree on a solution.

Over 170 countries attended the talks in the coastal city of Busan, South Korea, aiming to address the world's mounting problem of plastic pollution. At least 8 million pieces of plastic enter oceans, lakes, and rivers every day-- the equivalent of around 2,000 garbage trucks of plastic. There is an estimated 75 to 199 million tons of plastic waste in the ocean right now, and an additional 33 billion pounds enter the ocean each year. Around 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million sea birds are killed by marine plastic pollution every year. In fact, plastic waste is entering the ocean so fast that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish (by weight). On top of that, only 0.5% of plastic waste ends up in the ocean-- 10% of the world's plastic waste is recycled, and the rest is either incinerated or sent to landfills. In total, humans have produced over 8 billion metric tons of plastic since 1950. Clearly, this is a problem that needs to be addressed quickly-- so why didn't anything happen in Busan?

Despite its environmental issues, plastic production is one of the world's largest industries. Global plastic production makes up around 1-2% of the world's GDP-- while that doesn't seem like much, the global plastic trade has a value of around $1 trillion. 99% of plastics are made of fossil fuels like oil and natural gas, making plastic production responsible for around 5% of global carbon emissions. However, this dependency on fossil fuels for plastic makes oil-rich countries a large factor in plastic production.

United Nations rules stated that all delegates must agree for a deal to go forward, and countries were heavily divided over an effective solution to stopping plastic pollution. Over 100 countries attempted to strike a deal to cut down plastic production, but that idea received serious disapproval from oil-rich nations.

The world is switching to renewable energy, and the popularity of electric cars continues to rise as environmental friendliness and sustainability comes more into focus. Because of this, global gasoline consumption is expected to peak in the next few years and begin falling, making plastic production all the more important to oil-rich nations.

Several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, and Russia, which have some of the world's biggest oil reserves, claimed that reducing plastic production was not needed. Their plan involved placing more emphasis on managing plastic waste, stating that plastic production would become irrelevant if plastic waste was managed properly. They also said that decreasing plastic production would heavily impact the economic development of numerous countries, as well as impacting the fact that plastic has greatly benefited society as a whole.

In addition, many delegates were concerned over the impending arrival of Trump in the United States government. The United States is the world's largest producer of plastic per capita, with the average American producing 130 kilograms of plastic waste per year. While China produces more total plastic than the US, China's population is over four times larger. Incumbent President Joe Biden's representatives took more of a middle standpoint to the issue, but countries fear that the Trump administration could drastically change the talks next year due to their intense focus on economic growth and Trump's negative views on sustainability. Trump claims that climate change and global warming are a hoax, and he has publicly stated that he aims to get rid of almost all of the Biden administration's regulations that are intended to cut carbon emissions and reduce the usage of fossil fuels.

After this year's failed talks, another meeting is expected in next year to make another attempt at putting an end to plastic pollution. Both sides of the debate on an effective solution are willing to meet again, but they will not be able to meet the U.N. Environment Assembly's goal to establish a binding treaty against plastic pollution by 2024. The arrival of Donald Trump as US President could also change things. The big question is, what will it take for every country to agree on a solution?

Upcoming Events:

• International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (Monday, December 2)

• International Day of Persons with Disabilities (Tuesday, December 3)

• International Day of Banks (Wednesday, December 4)

• IWF World Weightlifting Championships (Wednesday, December 4)

• International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development (Thursday, December 5)

• World Soil Day (Thursday, December 5)

• International Civil Aviation Day (Saturday, December 7)

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): The popular pastries known as "danishes" are actually from Austria, not Denmark. During the mid-1800s, a bakery strike caused Danish companies to hire Austrian bakers, and the foreign bakers brought the recipe for danishes with them. While the pastries are globally known as danishes, they are called wienerbrød in Denmark -- which means Vienna bread -- to honor the Austrian bakers who brought the famous pastry with them.

Quote of the Day: Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

(Saint Augustine)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Scintilla (noun)- A scintilla is a very small amount of something. Scintilla is usually used in negative statements, as in “not even/nary a scintilla.”

In a Sentence: There wasn’t even a scintilla of evidence to support their story.