United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, said on Saturday that the world is losing the battle against ocean pollution, "on all fronts."
António Guterres was at the G7 summit in Canada, speaking at a session entitled, "Oceans, seas, coasts and healthy, productive and resilient communities."
The talk was attended by G7 leaders, guest countries and representatives from international organisations. The UN chief said that eight million tons of plastic are ending up in our oceans every year and that if nothing is done, by 2050 the oceans will contain more plastic than fish.
Guterres added that plastics are now found "in the most remote areas of the planet" and that in the Pacific Ocean there already is a mass of plastic, "bigger than France."
Over-fishing, untreated water discharges, acidification of the oceans and climate change were other topics covered by the UN Secretary-General.
Gutteres stated that the world has plans to improve this situation, but that none of the initiatives have any value “unless we admit that this is a global emergency."
Guterres appealed to leaders at the G7 summit to face these threats seriously and realise that our collective future is at stake.
The G7 leaders are those from Canada, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy.
