More Than 200 Nations Promise to Stop Ocean Plastic Waste

NAIROBI — 
More than 200 countries signed a U.N. resolution in Nairobi on Wednesday to eliminate plastic pollution in the sea, a move some delegates hoped would pave the way to a legally binding treaty.
 Researchers at the University of Tasmania say remote and uninhabited Henderson Island has the worst amount of plastic pollution in the world. (U. of Tasmania)
 If current pollution rates continue, there will be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050, said the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) which organized the meeting.Eight million tons of plastic - bottles, packaging and other waste - are dumped into the ocean every year, killing marine life and entering the human food chain, UNEP added.
"There is very strong language in this resolution," Norway's environment minister, Vidar Helgesen, told Reuters.
"We now have an agreement to explore a legally binding instrument and other measures and that will be done at the international level over the next 18 months."Norway, which initiated the resolution, has seen the evidence of the damage the pollution causes first hand, he said.
 Under the resolution, countries agreed to start monitoring the amount of plastic they put into the ocean."While this is not a treaty, significant progress is being made ... 39 governments announced new commitments to reduce the amount of plastic going into the sea," said the chief of public advocacy at UNEP, Sam Barrat. "Chile, Oman, Sri Lanka and South Africa today ... announced measures including plastic bag bans, new marine reserves and drives to increase recycling."

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