World's nations adopt plan "toward a

pollution-free planet"
By Maritte Le Roux, Agence France-Presse, adapted by Newsela sta on 12.12.17
Word Count 606
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Image 1: A sherman stands on the beach-contaminated plastic waste in Indonesia. This is one of the countries that has
committed to reducing plastic waste on land, coasts and sea as part of the UNEP pledge. Photo by: Fachrul Reza / Barcroft
Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images.

The world's nations vowed Wednesday to curb plastic and chemical contamination of the air, soil,
rivers and oceans. Together, they are calling for a steep change in how goods are produced and
consumed.

Government envoys issued a political declaration at the third U.N. Environment Assembly. This
group is called UNEA for short. The declaration outlined the path to "a pollution-free planet."

"Pollution is cutting short the lives of millions of people every year," said the call to action. It was
adopted in Nairobi at the world's highest-level decision-making forum on environmental issues.

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"Every day, nine out of 10 of us breathe air that exceeds WHO (World Health Organization)
guidelines for air quality, and more than 17,000 people will die prematurely because of it," the
declaration added.

It committed governments to promoting "sustainable economic productivity." It also said these

governments would encourage "sustainable lifestyles." They will do this by making it easier to
reuse and recycle products, reducing waste.

"What we need to do next is to move concretely to a plan of action," said Ibrahim Thiaw. He is
deputy head of the UN Environment Programme. He spoke to journalists on the nal day of the
December 4-6 pollution-themed gathering.

All 193 U.N. states are members of the UNEA.

"Some of the actions will have to do with the way we produce and the way we consume," Thiaw
said.

"Our models of production and consumption will have to change. We do not have to have models
of production and consumption that harm the environment and keep killing us."

This would require "very clear policies" from governments at the national and local level, said
Thiaw. One example might be banning single-use plastic shopping bags.

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No room for mistakes

"Every year we dump 4.8 to 12.7 million tons of plastic into our oceans," the ministers said. They
also pointed out that we "generate over 40 million tons of electronic waste."

The U.N. Environment Programme said it has received 2.5 million anti-pollution pledges. They
have come from national governments, municipalities, businesses and individuals.

They include commitments, which are non-binding, to ban plastic bags, curb air pollution and
support green public transport.

Some 88,000 individuals made pledges, too. They promised to undertake a switch to less-
polluting fuel, for example, or to use less plastic and recycle more.

Taken together, if all the commitments by governments, businesses and civil society are honored,
they would lead to 1.4 billion people breathing clean air, said Jacqueline McGlade. She co-
authored a pollution report for the assembly.

Furthermore, almost 300,000 miles a third of the world's coastlines will be unpolluted. And
on top of that, $18.6 billion will be invested in anti-pollution research and innovation.

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The assembly heard this week that pollution has become the biggest killer of humans. It claims 9
million human lives every year one in six deaths worldwide.

Of the annual tally, nearly 7 million people succumb from inhaling toxins in the air. These come
from car exhaust fumes, factory emissions and indoor cooking with wood and coal. That is
according to a recent report by The Lancet medical journal.

Lead in paint alone causes brain damage in more than half-a-million children every year.

The president of the UNEA meeting was Costa Rica's environment minister, Edgar Gutierrez. He
lamented Wednesday that humans "haven't done a good job" managing Earth's natural bounty.

"The room we have for making more mistakes is very narrow," he warned.

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