{"id":12856,"date":"2022-03-30T12:00:07","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T19:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.akaction.org\/?p=12856"},"modified":"2023-01-03T10:29:05","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T19:29:05","slug":"reversing-the-plastics-crisis-through-a-human-rights-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.akaction.org\/webinars\/reversing-the-plastics-crisis-through-a-human-rights-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"Reversing the plastics crisis through a human rights approach"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHE-Alaska’s March 30 webinar was a presentation on The Stages of the Plastics Cycle and their Impacts on Human Rights <\/em>from the UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights, Dr. Marcos Orellana. His most recent report to the UN General Assembly is on the plastics cycle and human rights (link to full report in resource list below).<\/p>\n

The report by the Special Rapporteur emphasizes that \u201cthe global plastics crisis necessitates a worldwide, human rights-based solution<\/em>\u201d<\/strong> and describes the current and future\u00a0adverse effects to health and human rights created at each stage of the plastics cycle, from\u00a0production to use and disposal. Additives to plastics \u2013\u00a0to make them stronger, more flexible, or UV resistant – have been found to be\u00a0toxic and have\u00a0widespread adverse effects on environmental and human health. Plastics are\u00a0a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions and climate warming.<\/p>\n

The UN report states:<\/p>\n

\u201cSafeguarding the human rights of present and future generations that are compromised by the growing toxification of the planet demands that the international community reverse the plastics crisis. Addressing the negative impacts of the plastics cycle on human rights and integrating a human rights-based approach to plastics policy are indispensable for effective and legitimate solutions to the global plastics problem<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report also describes\u00a0the vulnerable situations and populations who endure\u00a0the disproportionate adverse effects\u00a0– Indigenous\u00a0peoples, workers, people of African descent, women, children, people living in poverty, future generations. For example, the production and disposal of plastics is unjustly\u00a0concentrated\u00a0near low-income communities and communities of color. This includes the production of toxic chemicals used as plastics additives, many of which are transported on atmospheric and ocean currents and concentrate in\u00a0higher latitudes, bioaccumulating in Arctic environments, and contaminating the traditional foods of Arctic peoples, including Alaskans.<\/p>\n

The UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights highlights in the report that: \u201cPlastics contain toxic additives, over 10,000 according to a recent study, posing severe risks and harms to human rights and the environment. Harmful chemicals are added to plastics at every stage in the plastics cycle, and their deleterious impact will grow as plastics production and use increases<\/em>.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

As\u00a0an alternative to the toxic and harmful plastic cycle, the UN Special Rapporteur recommends a human rights-based approach for transitioning to a\u00a0chemically safe circular economy and presents\u00a0detailed steps and recommendations to make this a reality and a success. These include transparency and right-to-know about what is in plastics, the right to participate in decision making around the plastics cycle,\u00a0precautionary and polluter pays principles, and extended producer responsibility. The toxicity of plastics and the harmful effects of the plastic cycle may preclude\u00a0plastics from a chemically safe\u00a0future.<\/p>\n

This report is free to all and at 24 pages, is an accessible resource. I encourage you to read it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHE-Alaska’s March 30 webinar was a presentation on The Stages of the Plastics Cycle and their Impacts on Human Rights from the UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights, Dr. Marcos Orellana. His most recent report to the UN General Assembly is on the plastics cycle and human rights (link to full report in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[216,234],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akaction.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12856"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akaction.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akaction.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akaction.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akaction.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12856"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.akaction.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14166,"href":"https:\/\/www.akaction.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12856\/revisions\/14166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akaction.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akaction.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akaction.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}