Latest news with #plasticPollution
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Newsom's podcast sidekick: a single-use plastic water bottle
Johnny had Ed. Conan had Andy. And Gov. Gavin Newsom? A single-use plastic water bottle. In most of the YouTube video recordings of Newsom's new podcast, "This is Gavin Newsom," a single-use plastic water bottle lurks on a table nearby. Sometimes, it is accompanied by a single-use coffee cup. Other times, it stands alone. Typically, such product placement would raise nary an eyebrow. But in recent weeks, environmentalists, waste advocates, lawmakers and others have been battling with the governor and his administration over a landmark single-use plastic law that Newsom signed in 2022, but which he has since worked to defang — reducing the number of packaged single-use products the law was designed to target and potentially opening the door for polluting forms of recycling. Anti-plastic advocates say it's an abrupt and disappointing pivot from the governor, who in June 2022, decried plastic pollution and the plague of single-use plastic on the environment. "It's like that whole French Laundry thing all over again," said one anti-plastic advocate, who didn't want to be identified for fear of angering the governor. Newsom was infamously caught dining without a mask at the wine country restaurant during the COVID-19 lockdown. Newsom's efforts to scale back SB 54, the state's single-use plastic recycling law, has dismayed environmentalists who have long considered Newsom one of their staunchest allies. 'Our kids deserve a future free of plastic waste and all its dangerous impacts ... No more," Newsom said in 2022, when he signed SB 54. "California won't tolerate plastic waste that's filling our waterways and making it harder to breathe. We're holding polluters responsible and cutting plastics at the source.' Asked about the presence of the plastic water bottle, Daniel Villaseñor, the governor's deputy director of communications, had this response: "Are you really writing a story this baseless or should we highlight this video for your editor?" Villaseñor said via email, attaching a video clip showing this reporter seated near a plastic water bottle at last year's Los Angeles Times' Climate Summit. (The bottles were placed near chairs for all the panelists; this particular one was never touched.) More than a half-dozen environmentalists and waste advocates asked to comment for this story declined to speak on the record, citing concerns including possible retribution from the governor's office and appearing to look like scolds as negotiations over implementing SB 54 continue. Dianna Cohen, the co-founder and chief executive of Plastic Pollution Coalition, said that while she wouldn't comment on the governor and his plastic sidekick, she noted that plastic pollution is an "urgent global crisis" that requires strong policies and regulations. "Individuals — especially those in the public eye — can help shift culture by modeling these solutions. We must all work to embrace the values we want to see and co-create a healthier world," she said in a statement. On Thursday, Newsom dropped a new episode of "This is Gavin Newsom" with independent journalist Aaron Parnas. In the video, there wasn't a plastic bottle in sight. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
How Asia's failure to cooperate is killing its rivers and oceans
Asia's relationship with the ocean represents one of the most complex environmental contradictions of our time. The region is home to some of the world's largest maritime economies, with China, Japan, South Korea and India among those leading the global shipping, fishing and marine trade. It contains about 60 per cent of the world's coastal population, and those people depend on the region's coastal zones for their livelihoods, food security and economic survival. Yet, at the same time, the same region that benefits most from ocean resources is systematically destroying the very marine ecosystems on which it depends. The 2025 UN Ocean Conference last week in Nice, France offered a stark illustration of this contradiction. While some Asian nations have made impressive pledges – such as South Korea committing to sustainably manage all of the ocean areas under its jurisdiction by joining the 100% Alliance and India's push for swift ratification of the High Seas Treaty – the fundamental drivers of ocean degradation across Asia remain largely unaddressed. The conference highlighted Asia's potential for leadership while simultaneously exposing its dangerous shortcomings in protecting marine environments. The most glaring failure lies in plastic pollution, where Asia's rivers serve as conveyor belts of waste into global oceans. Around 90 per cent of river-transported plastic in our oceans can be traced back to just 10 rivers, eight of which are in Asia, with the Yangtze, Ganges and Mekong among the worst offenders. Despite India's advocacy at Nice for a binding agreement to end ocean plastics, domestic policies remain woefully inadequate. India's plastic recycling rate is just 8 per cent, meaning most plastic waste ends up in landfills or waterways. Similar patterns exist across Southeast Asia, where rapid economic growth has long outpaced waste management infrastructure.
The Guardian
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
World must move from ‘plunder to protection' to save oceans, UN chief warns
Nations must move from 'plunder to protection' in order to save the world's seas from crisis, the UN chief told the ocean summit on Monday. All countries must come forward with 'bold pledges' including a biodiversity target to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030, to tackle plastic pollution, overfishing and for greater governance of the high seas, he urged at the opening ceremony. Guterres also stressed the importance of multilateralism and warned, in an apparent swipe at the US, which was not present at the conference: 'The deep sea cannot become the wild west.' 'We live in an age of turmoil, but the resolve I see here gives me hope' UN secretary general, António Guterres told the summit in Nice. 'Hope that we can turn the tide. Hope that we can move from plunder to protection.' His words drew applause from the audience, which included 60 world leaders, including the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and his Argentine counterpart, Javier Milei, heads of small island developing states as well as ministers, policymakers, scientists and civil society activists. The conference, which seeks to finally get the high seas treaty into place, comes against a backdrop of increasing competition for ocean resources. In April, Donald Trump moved to fast-track deep-sea mining under US law, sidestepping ongoing international efforts to regulate the industry. His actions have lent urgency to the voices of those calling for a moratorium, amid warnings it will cause irreversible damage to vulnerable ecosystems. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, began his address with an urgent call to 'revitalise multilateralism behind the UN secretary general' in order to save oceans. 'While the Earth is burning, the ocean is boiling' warned Macron, adding that working together to 'mobilise all actors, heads of state and governments speaking here but also scientists' was the only way to tackle the crisis. Macron told leaders it was a 'necessity' for nations to impose a suspension on deep-sea mining. 'It's madness to launch predatory economic action that will disrupt the deep seabed, disrupt biodiversity, destroy it … The moratorium on deep seabed exploitation is an international necessity.' So far 37 countries have announced their support for a moratorium or pause, and in July, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) will meet to discuss a global mining code. Macron said the high seas treaty 'will be properly implemented' as he expects the crucial threshold of 60 ratifying countries to be reached. He did not specify a timeline. The high seas lie outside national boundaries, where fragmented and loosely enforced rules have so far meant the vast area was essentially lawless. Getting 60 countries to ratify the agreement, which in itself took 20 years to negotiate, was a crucial goal for France and Macron at the summit. 'In addition to the 50 ratifications already submitted here in the last few hours, 15 countries have formally committed to joining them,' Macron said. The treaty, signed in 2023, will enter into force 120 days after the 60th ratification. The treaty is crucial to meet a globally agreed biodiversity target of protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030, known as '30x30'. But so too, is increased protection of national waters. The French president has been criticised for doing less than others to meet this goal, by failing to ban bottom trawling in 'protected' areas. On Sunday, France announced it would 'limit' bottom trawling and seek to protect 4% of its metropolitan waters. Nicolas Fournier, campaign director at Oceana, said: 'These announcements bring more questions than answers. President Macron built expectations that the French government would finally act against bottom trawling in marine protected areas – yet these announcements are more symbolic than impactful.' The UK announced on Sunday it would ban bottom trawling in half of its protected marine areas. The conference comes as just 2.7% of the ocean is effectively protected from destructive activities, according to the Marine Conservation Institute.
BBC News
09-06-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Scientists develop plastic that dissolves in seawater
Scientists in Japan have developed a plastic that dissolves in say the new material breaks down quickly in around two to three hours, depending on its thickness and size. Many existing biodegradable plastics aren't able to fully dissolve, leaving behind harmful microplastics that can pollute the ocean and harm it's hoped that the new non-toxic material could offer a future solution as it disappears completely. What have scientists developed? The new plastic was co-developed by the University of Tokyo in Japan and the country's RIKEN Centre for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS). Researchers say it is made by combining two small molecules which form a strong bond that allows the new material to stay tough and scientists have long experimented with biodegradable plastics, the team say their invention breaks down much more quickly and leaves no placed in a mixture which had the same amount of salt as seawater, they found the new plastic dissolved "quickly in about two to three hours, depending on its thickness and size."And it's not just in water where the new plastic can dissolve. Takuzo Aida, lead researcher at CEMS, explained: "Similarly, when tested in soil..a piece of plastic about 5 centimetres in size, it completely disappears after a little over 200 hours." Plastic pollution is a big global problem, with experts at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) saying the amount of waste is set to triple in the next 15 studies have shown the damage microplastics cause as they pollute the environment and create health problems for animals, because they can be easily new plastic is still in the early phase of development but Mr Aida said their research has attracted a lot of interest, including from those in the packaging added: "In Japan, almost all packaging is made of plastic, and if we can really manage to reduce that, we can expect less environmental damage." Currently, less than 9% of global plastic waste is successfully recycled.
CNA
09-06-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Don't let deep sea become 'wild west', UN chief tells world leaders
NICE: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday (Jun 9) the world could not let the deepest oceans "become the wild west", at the start in France of a global summit on the seas. World leaders are attending the UN Ocean Conference in Nice as nations tussle over contentious rules on mining the seabed for critical minerals and the terms of a global treaty on plastic pollution. US President Donald Trump has brought urgency to the debate around deep-sea mining, moving to fast-track US exploration in international waters and sidestepping global efforts to regulate the nascent sector. The International Seabed Authority, which has jurisdiction over the ocean floor outside national waters, is meeting in July to discuss a global mining code to regulate mining in the ocean depths. Guterres said he supported these negotiations and urged caution as countries navigate these "new waters on seabed mining". "The deep sea cannot become the wild west," he said, to applause from the plenary floor. Many countries oppose seabed mining, and France is hoping more nations in Nice will join a moratorium until more is known about the ecological impacts of the practice. French President Emmanuel Macron said a moratorium on deep-sea mining was "an international necessity". "I think it's madness to launch predatory economic action that will disrupt the deep seabed, disrupt biodiversity, destroy it and release irrecoverable carbon sinks - when we know nothing about it," the French president said. The deep sea, Greenland and Antarctica were "not for sale", he said in follow-up remarks to thunderous applause. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for "clear action" from the seabed authority to end a "predatory race" among nations seeking critical minerals on the ocean floor. "We now see the threat of unilateralism looming over the ocean. We cannot allow what happened to international trade to happen to the sea," he said. WAVE OF COMMITMENTS Macron said a global pact to protect marine life in international waters had received enough support to become law and was "a done deal". The high seas treaty struck in 2023 requires ratifications from 60 signatory countries to enter into force, something France hoped to achieve before Nice. Macron said about 50 nations had ratified the treaty and 15 others had formally committed to joining them. This "allows us to say that the high seas treaty will be implemented," he said. Other commitments are expected on Monday in Nice, where around 60 heads of state and government have joined thousands of business leaders, scientists and civil society activists. On Monday, the United Kingdom is expected to announce a partial ban on bottom trawling in half its marine protected areas, putting the destructive fishing method squarely on the summit agenda. Bottom trawling involves huge fishing nets indiscriminately dragging the ocean floor, a process shockingly captured in a recent documentary by British naturalist David Attenborough. Macron said on Saturday that France would restrict trawling in some of its marine protected areas, but was criticised by environment groups for not going far enough. WORDS INTO ACTION On Sunday, French environment minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher hinted at "important announcements" in Nice about the creation of new marine protected areas. Samoa led the way this past week, announcing that 30 per cent of its national waters would be under protection with the creation of nine marine parks. Just 8 per cent of global oceans are designated for marine conservation, despite a globally agreed target to achieve 30 per cent coverage by 2030. But even fewer are considered truly protected, as some countries impose next to no rules on what is forbidden in marine zones or lack the finance to enforce any regulations. Nations will face calls to cough up the missing finance for ocean protection. Small island states are expected in numbers at the summit to demand money and political support to combat rising seas, marine trash and the plunder of fish stocks. The summit will not produce a legally binding agreement at its close like a climate COP or treaty negotiation. But diplomats and other observers said it could mark a much-needed turning point in global ocean conservation if leaders rose to the occasion.
