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SINGAPORE: Plastics entering the world’s oceans have surged by an unprecedented amount since 2005 and could nearly triple by 2040 if no further action is taken, according to research published on Wednesday.

An estimated 171 trillion plastic particles were afloat in the oceans by 2019, according to peer-reviewed research led by the 5 Gyres Institute, a U.S. organization that campaigns to reduce plastic pollution.

Marine plastic pollution could rise 2.6-fold by 2040 if legally binding global policies are not introduced, it predicted.

The study looked at surface-level plastic pollution data from 11,777 ocean stations in six major marine regions covering the period from 1979 to 2019.

“We’ve found an alarming trend of exponential growth in microplastics in the global ocean since the millennium,” Marcus Eriksen, co-founder of the 5 Gyres Group said in a statement.

“We need a strong legally binding U.N. global treaty on plastic pollution that stops the problem at the source,” he added.

Microplastics are particularly hazardous to the oceans, not only contaminating water but also damaging the internal organs of marine animals, which mistake plastic for food.

Experts said the study showed that the level of marine plastic pollution in the oceans has been underestimated.

“The numbers in this new research are staggeringly phenomenal and almost beyond comprehension,” said Paul Harvey, a scientist and plastics expert with Environmental Science Solutions, an Australian consultancy focused on pollution reduction.

The United Nations kicked off negotiations on an agreement to tackle plastic pollution in Uruguay in November, with the aim of drawing up a legally binding treaty by the end of next year.

Environmental group Greenpeace said that without a strong global treaty, plastic production could double within the next 10 to 15 years, and triple by 2050.

A separate international treaty was agreed on Sunday to help protect biodiversity in the world’s high seas.

(Reuters/VOA)

Doha, March 6 –  Leading food systems experts have warned that the food price crisis is entering a dangerous new phase, as the world teeters on the brink of a debt crisis that could plunge millions more into hunger. The International Panel of Experts on  IPES-Food special report comes as global leaders meet in Qatar (LDC5) to address challenges faced by the world’s Least Developed Countries – with ‘debt sustainability and debt cancellation’ finally on the agenda.

Presenting the report entitled ‘Breaking the cycle of unsustainable food systems, hunger, and debt,’ at the Civil Society Forum panel in Doha on Monday, Million Belay, IPES-Food expert, said: “Many African countries’ economies and food systems are on the brink of meltdown. Africa is stuck in a bind. We’re selling coffee and cotton to the rich to pay off debts, while we import increasingly unaffordable staple foods from outside, climate change batters our harvests, and interest payments spiral out of control. The economic system prioritizes servicing debt over feeding people, while our governments are starved of cash to build the sustainable food systems we need to feed ourselves.”

A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, record-high food prices have receded, but growing numbers of countries are facing rising hunger and soaring debt repayments, the report said. 60% of low-income countries are now considered at high risk of, or already in, debt distress, while some 21 countries are nearing catastrophic levels of both debt distress and food insecurity. Zambia, Sri Lanka, and Suriname already defaulted on their debts; Ghana and Pakistan are currently in urgent talks to avoid default.

Policymakers are ignoring the critical role of unsustainable, import-heavy food systems in driving rising debt and hunger, the experts said. Skyrocketing costs for imports of food, fertilizer, and energy are straining the public finances of many low-income (and also some middle-income) countries. Rising interest rates and plunging currencies are sending debt bills higher, constraining the ability of governments to ensure the food security of their citizens. Those same countries are locked into exporting cash crops (such as cocoa, coffee, and cotton) to pay off dollar-denominated debts and import basic necessities – at the expense of feeding local populations.

Moreover, record high debt burdens are preventing urgently-needed investments in sustainable, climate-resilient food production and food security, creating a vicious cycle, says the report. Debt repayments dwarf spending on climate resilience and social protection in the world’s poorest countries. Failure to break this vicious cycle of unsustainable debt and unsustainable food systems will mean the reversal of decades of progress in addressing poverty and hunger, and abject failure to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, the experts said.

They have called for urgent action to:

● Provide debt relief and development finance on a scale sufficient to meet the needs of COVID-19 recovery, climate-resilient food systems, and the Sustainable Development Goals; ● Repair historical injustices that have left countries funneling wealth to the global North – through windfall taxes on food profiteers and steps to achieve tax justice, and repay ‘ecological’ and historical debts;

● Democratize financial and food systems governance: reform decision-making over food systems and in the World Bank and IMF to put the interests of the world’s poorest countries and marginalized populations first.

21 countries are nearing catastrophic levels of both debt distress and food insecurity – including Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Lebanon, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, the report said. By November 2022, some 349 million people were facing acute food insecurity, with 49 million on the brink of famine, 45 countries in need of external food assistance, and some 828 million facing persistent hunger.

As food prices spiked, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa spent an additional $4.8 billion on food imports in 2022 while receiving less food overall. The world’s 77 ‘net food-importing developing countries’ faced a crippling $21.7 billion in additional costs, the report said.

The full report can be accessed at:

http://www.ipes-food.org/pages/debtfoodcrisis

By Bhagirath Yogi in Doha – Civil Society leaders have called upon the developed governments to keep their past promises and extend urgent support to some of the poorest countries of the world that are passing through multiple crises.

Addressing the Parliamentary Forum organised jointly by the LDC 5 Secretariat, The Shura Council of Qatar and Inter-Parliamentary Union at the Qatar National Convention Center on Saturday, global coordinator of LDC Watch, a global alliance of civil society organisations, think tanks and academics based in the LDCs, Dr Arjun Karki said that the LDCs are suffering from Covid pandemic, impact of climate change and debt crisis, among others.

‘Covid pandemic created 40 new billionaires, while more than half a billion people were pushed into extreme poverty. The Global Hunger Index 2022 indicates that 21 LDCs in Africa have ‘serious’ hunger, seven are facing an ‘alarming’ rate of hunger, while one country is facing ‘extremely alarming’ hunger,’ said Dr Karki adding, ‘Official Development Assistance (ODA) to LDCs did not meet the threshold of at least 0.15-0.20 per cent of OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) countries’ GNI contribution, despite the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA). 

Dr Karki further said that the LDCs’ total external debt servicing has more than tripled in the last ten years. ‘We strongly call upon our development partners to follow the principle of country ownership, transparency, and untied aid to improve aid effectiveness. It is equally crucial, that LDCs’ dependency on aid should be reduced. Instead, domestic revenue should be raised by broadening the tax base and enhancing compliance and transparency, introducing wealth taxation and curbing illicit financial flows. While we welcome the UN resolution to take on a global tax leadership role paving the way for a UN convention on taxation, we insist that a new UN-led global tax body be quickly instituted,’ Dr Karki added.

Under Secretary General of the United Nations and Secretary General of the LDC 5, Rabab Fatima, said that last 10 years had been a difficult journey for LDCs due to pandemic, climate crisis and conflicts around the world. ‘There are deep rooted problems in the LDCs including low human development, limited financial resources and unsustainable debt,’ said Fatima adding, ‘First, we must secure good and effective governance. Second, we must work together to develop potential of science and technology and extend stronger support for LDCs for their  capacity building. Third, LDCs should effectively mobilise domestic resources and these must be supported by the international community.’

President of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Duarte Pacheco, said that LDCs are suffering from climate change, Covid and ongoing food and energy crisis. ‘Advancing LDCs can make big difference in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). LDCs have to cover a  long journey towards sustainable development. We are not allowed to give up. One day we will achieve our goal,’ he added.

Speaker of Shura Council of Qatar, Hasan Bin Abdulla Al Ghanim, said that expressed hope that LDC 5 summit will come up with new vision to improve productivity in the LDCs including promoting investment in infrastructure and facing climate change. He said development aid should be provided in such a way that helps LDCs for their social and environmental development.

Taffere Tesfachew, Member, UN Committee for Development Policy, said that LDC countries are suffering from low income, low human development, environmental shocks and structural impendiments. ‘There is the need for integrated approach and need for coherence. Internal support measures provided by internal community should complement LDCs’ efforts,’ he added.

‘LDCs facing triple challenges’

Member of Parliament from Bangladesh, Saber Chowdhury, said that LDCs are facing  three major challenges – Climate Change, Covid and Conflict.

‘Our very existence is challenged by climate change. Water stress, drought, biodiversity lss, food security. LDCs are at the receiving end,’ said Mr Chowdhury adding, ‘LDCs account for only 1.1 percent of global Green House Gas emissions but are affected the most. External shocks are going to challenge us like never before. We have to think differently, and we have to work differently. Governments will have to do that, and we will exercise our oversight how govts are acting.’

Jitendra Dev, a parliamentarian from Nepal, said that  the LDCs are marginalised due to the  biased global economic system. These potnetials can be tapped only when significant investment is made to improve human capabilities. There is an urgent need to make a global system to support them. IFIs need to adopt – Climate Finance goals must be met. Adequate financing and technologies must be available, a preferential market access within a rule-based multilateral trading system. We need to change the current model of eco progress -switching to green and circular. We need to work collectively. LDCs have untapped potential in terms of human and natural potential.

Civil society activists from around the world have gathered in Doha to take part in the 5^th UN LDC Summit. They are calling upon fundamental shift in the international system so as to address the poverty and underdevelopment of some of the poorest countries of the world.

More than half of the world’s population will be overweight or obese by 2035 if significant action is not taken, according to a new report.
The World Obesity Federation’s 2023 Atlas predicts that 51 percent of the world’s population, or more than four billion people, will be obese or overweight in the next 12 years.
According to the report, obesity is increasing particularly rapidly among children and in countries with lower incomes. Louise Baur, president of the World Obesity Federation
, described the data as a “clear warning” and said policymakers must act now to prevent the situation from getting worse.
“It is particularly worrying to see that obesity is increasing more rapidly among children and young people,” he said in a statement.
Governments and policy makers around the world must do everything possible to avoid passing on the health, social and economic costs to younger generations.
According to the report, childhood obesity could more than double from 2020 levels to 208 million boys and 175 million girls by 2035.
According to society, the health problems associated with excess weight have high costs for society. Specifically, by 2035, it will be more than trillion dollars (3.77 trillion euros) per year, or 3 percent of the world’s gross domestic product.
The authors said they did not blame individuals, but called for a focus on the social, environmental and biological factors involved.
When evaluating the report, the body mass index (BMI) is used, which is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters. According to the World Health Organization guidelines, a BMI value of more than 25 is overweight and more than 30 is obese.
In 2020, 2.6 billion people, or 38 percent of the world’s population, fell into these categories.
The report also found that almost all the countries where obesity will increase the most in the coming years are low- and middle-income countries in Asia and Africa.
The information will be presented to UN decision makers and member states next week.

Doha — The upcoming conference for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), known as LDC5, is scheduled to take place from 5 to 9 March 2023.

LDC5 aims to prioritize the needs of the 46 designated countries by addressing the challenges they face in achieving sustainable development.

LDCs are countries that have the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development, including a gross national per capita income (GNI) below USD$1,018 and low scores in nutrition, health, school enrollment, and literacy.
They are also highly vulnerable to economic and environmental risks such as natural disasters and climate change.

The international community, including the United Nations, has provided development financing, multilateral trading systems, and technical assistance to support LDCs.

The Doha Programme of Action is the development roadmap for LDCs, which aims to address poverty, science and technology, international trade, climate change, environmental degradation, and global partnerships.
The implementation of the DPoA is expected to help LDCs recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and achieve the SDGs.

LDC5 will bring together various stakeholders to agree on partnerships, commitments, innovations, and plans to achieve the SDGs.
The conference is also an opportunity for LDCs to meet targets that will enable them to graduate from the least developed country status.