
My final New Year green resolution for 2025 – Part Four
With many people making New Year’s resolutions this month environment expert Ron Fox, of Noreus Ltd, gives his final green suggestion to help the UK reduce our carbon footprint.
Tackle plastic pollution: It is incredible that after more than two years of negotiations more than 200 nations have failed to reach an agreement on tackling this worldwide pollution problem,” said Ron.
The countries met in South Korea for what was meant to be a final round of talks at the end of 2024. But it ended in stalemate with big divisions between a group of nearly 100 “high ambition” countries calling for plastic to be phased out and oil-producing nations, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and Russia, who warned this would affect the world’s development.
In 2022, the world’s nations agreed that a global treaty was urgently needed to tackle the issue of plastic pollution – and this should be completed within two years.
“It is ironic that the objective of this treaty is to end plastic pollution not plastic itself,” said Ron, of Noreus Ltd which is based at Keele University’s Science and Innovation Park. “So, my appeal is that there is finally world agreement on sorting out this problem in 2025.”
He said this pollution was getting worse year on year. Since 1950, more than eight billion tonnes of plastic have been produced globally, but less than 10 per cent has been recycled, according to the United Nations.
This has led to millions of tonnes entering the world’s oceans and seas, posing serious risks to wildlife and their environment. Birds, fish and whales can become injured or killed if they become entangled in plastic debris or mistakenly ingest it, leading to starvation.
A team of international scientists analysed global data collected between 1979 and 2019 from nearly 12,000 sampling points in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. They found that the world’s oceans were polluted by a “plastic smog” made up of an estimated 171 trillion plastic particles that if gathered would weigh around 2.3 million tons.
The study, by the 5 Gyres Institute and published in the journal PLOS ONE, found that without urgent action, the rate at which plastics enter the oceans could increase by around 2.6 times between now and 2040.
Plastic is also produced from fossil fuels, and is estimated to be responsible for 5 per cent of harmful global emissions of carbon dioxide gases. So, restricting this could also help with efforts to tackle climate change.
The meeting in Busan, South Korea, was meant to be the final fifth round of negotiations but after late-night talks countries were unable to resolve their differences missing their key two-year deadline. It is now expected that countries will reconvene this year to try and get an agreement.
“If they can’t get a worldwide deal in 2025, perhaps the group of nearly 100 “high ambition” countries, including the UK, European Union, the African Group and many South American nations, should go it alone and make their own agreement,” concluded Ron.
For more advice on green energy and recycling contact Ron Fox, of Noreus Ltd which is based at Keele University’s Science and Innovation Park, on 0845 474 6641 or go to www.noreus.co.uk. In the meantime, have a happy and peaceful New Year.
Caption: After more than two years of negotiations more than 200 nations have failed to reach an agreement on tackling the worldwide pollution problem of plastic.