{"id":339066,"date":"2025-08-12T18:05:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T18:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/339066\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T18:05:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T18:05:15","slug":"geneva-the-nen-north-edinburgh-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/339066\/","title":{"rendered":"Geneva \u2013 The NEN \u2013 North Edinburgh News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Around the Firth of Forth, people have come together to spell out messages calling for an end to plastic pollution as Global Plastics Treaty negotiations take place in Geneva. The groups have taken this action to send a message to the UK representatives that they want them to support a strong agreement that protects people and nature.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Dalgety Bay, Fife, locals created a distinctly Scottish message by lying down on the beach to spell out \u201cNae plastics, ta\u201d in the sand. Volunteers from the Plastic-Free Scotland Communities networks in South Queensferry and Dunfermline also created messages supporting a strong treaty.<\/p>\n

The Firth of Forth is a hotspot for plastic pollution in the form of plastic pellets which have escaped from nearby production processes. In Scotland, efforts to reduce plastic pollution have so far failed to curb its harmful impacts. Single use plastic bans have not been enforced, and efforts to increase recycling have stalled.<\/p>\n

Globally, the massive increase in plastic production, use and disposal has created a crisis as people struggle to cope with the health and environmental impacts created. There is growing evidence that microplastics and chemicals within plastic products are harming our health. Plastics also harm marine animals and contribute to climate breakdown as nearly all plastics are made of fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

The solution requires an international agreement to change the way plastics are used for good. The final stage of the Global Plastics Treaty is currently taking place in Geneva. These talks are seen by many involved in the UN process as the last opportunity to reach an agreement after three years of negotiations. With unresolved issues, such as whether the treaty should have binding targets to reduce plastic production, it remains unclear if governments will reach an agreement.<\/p>\n

Similar messages of support for the treaty have been created across the world, from Malaysia to Armenia, South Korea and Canada, showing the international support for a future free from plastic pollution.<\/p>\n

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Kim Blasco from Plastic-Free Dalgety Bay said: \u201cThe communities of the Inner Forth are confronted with plastic pollution on a daily basis, whether it be the nurdles blighting our beaches that have been irresponsibly allowed to escape into the environment by the nearby petrochemical facility, the sewage-related debris swilling around in our waters and carpeting our shores, or the vast numbers of single-use plastic bottles and wrappers carelessly tossed into the environment where they can remain for hundreds of years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOur plastic-free communities try to get as much as possible of this pollution off our beaches, but it\u2019s a thankless task \u2013 as anyone who has ever tried to clean up the likes of nurdles and cotton bud sticks knows. It\u2019s like trying to mop the bathroom floor when the tub is overflowing because you left the tap running \u2013 you\u2019ll never stop mopping if you don\u2019t turn the tap off first.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need the Global Plastics Treaty to turn the tap off by agreeing targets to reduce plastic production. The petrochemical industry has profited for far too long from the plastic-isation of the economy, with single-use plastics that we don\u2019t want or need. The treaty can be an important step towards stopping this environmental and public health disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Janet Thomas, from Plastic-Free Queensferry, said: \u201cIn 2024, South Queensferry was named as the most beautiful town in Scotland. However, in common with other beaches around the Forth, we are drowning in plastic \u2013 the same tourists who enjoy our wonderful town leaving behind all types of litter.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to stop the litter at source \u2013 and that\u2019s where the Global Plastics Treaty comes in. We must end the world\u2019s reliance on single use plastic that pollutes for hundreds of years, breaking down into microplastics and entering our food chain. The time to act is now and we call on the world\u2019s governments to take a principled stand against the tide of plastic that is overwhelming our planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kim Pratt, senior campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland said: \u201cPeople in Scotland are joining the growing chorus of voices from across the world calling for an end to harmful plastic pollution.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe plastic crisis has been created by greedy corporations, willing to put profit before people\u2019s health and the protection of nature and the environment. Now governments must listen to their citizens and come together to hold corporations to account.<\/p>\n

\u201cA strong treaty is a vital part of tipping the balance away from corporate power and towards people and nature. As well as supporting international efforts to curb plastic pollution, the Scottish Government must act now to reduce the damage done by plastic here, including standing up to big businesses and getting them to pay for the cleanup of the plastic products they sell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Made up of 11 communities across Scotland, the Plastics-Free Scotland Communities network is fighting back against plastic pollution from the Clyde to the Northwest Coast, the Outer Hebrides, the Moray Firth and the Firth of Forth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Around the Firth of Forth, people have come together to spell out messages calling for an end to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-339066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115017127015473542","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}