Eight million tonnes a year of plastic ends up in our oceans – a threat to people and wildlife. Thanks to your amazing support, over one million people across the world have signed a petition calling on governments to make a globally binding legal commitment to tackle this plastic crisis.
Policymakers around the world are joining the fight, too.
All of this momentum contributed to policymakers adopting the first meaningful global binding measure on plastic pollution in an important meeting called the Basel Convention back in May. This effectively prohibited developed economies from sending their worthless contaminated plastic waste to developing economies.
This has empowered many Southeast Asian countries being overwhelmed with waste to send it back to the countries trying to illegally dump it on their shores.
In September, world leaders will gather at the UN General Assembly in New York for an emergency Climate Action Summit. UN Secretary-General António Guterres is calling for countries to take more ambitious action to tackle the climate crisis, and millions of people are expected to ask for the same in marches around the world.
Whether you are 7 or 77, all are invited to join the marches on September 20 and 27. Check for an event near you – and sign up to Voice for the Planet to stand alongside many thousands of other people calling for urgent action to protect people and nature.
