LAST week, the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur convened a webinar on plastic pollution's contribution to climate change, part of a preliminary programme to next November's world climate summit in Glasgow (COP26), co-hosted by the United Kingdom and Italy.
The webinar began with a video message from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who days before had announceda10-point national plan to reach net zero greenhouse emissions, including a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030.
Ken O' Flaherty, the British COP26 Regional Ambassador for Asia-Pacific and South Asia, then outlined the UK's policy on marine litter and plastic waste. Derived from fossil fuels, plastics emit greenhouse gases throughout their life cycles.
From refining and manufacturing through post-use incineration, being sent to landfills and recycling, each stage produces significant greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. Plastic is everywhere, from single-use cutlery, straws and water bottles to components in electronics, cars and spaceships.
It does not biodegrade, which is both a great quality and a cause for concern because about 12 million tonnes of it ends up in our oceans every year, the equivalent of a full rubbish truck every minute, according to Greenpeace. Plastics in the oceans originate from many sources — landfills, litterbugs, plastic microbeads in cosmetic products, and countless others.
By some accounts, the oceans now contain 300 million tonnes of plastic, much of it pulverised to an invisible scale. In a few decades, our oceans could contain more plastic than fish. We have been warned that plastic is now finding its way into our food. In recent years, marine plastic pollution has been put on the international agenda.
The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 14.1 states the need "by 2025, (to) prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution". In 2017, the United Nations Environment Assembly urged the adoption of a new comprehensive treaty, noting that the issue wasn't adequately covered in any of the 18 relevant international or 36 regional environmental agreements.
Last week, a UN working group met virtually to discuss the issue and more than two-thirds of UN member states, including the European Union, declared their openness to considering a new agreement akin to the Paris climate agreement or the Montreal protocol to prevent ozone depletion.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature members this month adopted a resolution calling for the world community to agree to a binding global agreement, supported by two million signatures on a public petition.
Hopefully the United States , a top world plastics producer that has stymied progress in recent years, will adopt a progressive stance under President-elect Joe Biden's administration.
With about 1,300 manufacturers, Malaysia is an important global player in the plastic industry. In 2016, our exports totalled RM30 billion, with 2.26 million metric tonnes of resin used in plastics production.
Malaysia, however, is ranked eighth among countries on mismanagement of plastic waste.
One study estimated that almost one million tonnes of plastic waste were mismanaged, 370,000 tonnes of which may have been washed into the oceans.
When China banned most plastic waste imports in 201 8, Malaysia reportedly became an alternative destination for contaminated and mixed plastic waste that is difficult or even impossible to recycle.
To its credit, our government last January sent 150 shipping containers of plastic waste back to rich countries including the US, UK, France and Canada, insisting it won't be the "garbage dump" of the world.
It is precisely because of this type of shenanigans that the world needs a global treaty to regulate plastic pollution management in a fair, transparent and equitable manner.
Besides returning illegal plastic waste imports, our Environment and Water Ministry launched a Roadmap to Zero Single-Use Plastic by 2030 and the Malaysia Sustainable Plastic Alliance is closing down illegal plastic recycling factories, and encouraging implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility Policy.
Make no mistake, many plastics today are a valuable mainstay of modern life. But their environmental consequences—for our oceans, lands and atmosphere — must be addressed.
It is gratifying to see the UK, where plastics had their humble origin in 1856, adopting a leading role. Malaysia should be ready to play its role as a leading country in the global south.
The writer is a senior fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, and a former science adviser to the prime minister and UN secretary-general