The Climate Catastrophe continues.
In a new twist that should not surprise many, one of the goals of reducing environmental impacts will surely have to see an increase on its deadline.
The goal in question is the reduction of industrial chemical production. The most recent forecast, set up by the UN environmental department, states that the nations of the world will not only fail to achieve the global goal of reducing waste and chemical waste by 2020, but also the production of such waste will double by 2030.
The global chemical industry was worth more than $ 5 trillion in 2017. The forecast and analysis was presented at the UN’s fourth UN Environmental Assembly in Nairobi, Ethiopia. Currently the industry is able to produce 2.3 billion tons of chemical materials.
The report states that although several measures have been implemented to reduce the impact of the chemical industry, they have proven to be ineffective and sporadic. Because of this, the industry (which supplies raw materials for many areas, from pharmaceuticals to pesticides) will continue to produce huge amounts of pollution.
The growth of emerging Asian world powers (mainly China) will also influence the increase, with a forecast that by 2030 more than two-thirds of sales production and consumption of chemical materials will take place in this region.
In 2016 the WHO estimated that the waste from the chemical industry was the cause of illness for at least 1.6 million people.
However, this is not an unsolvable problem. The UN report in question, called Global Chemicals Outlook, states that solutions are already being addressed by various entities.
Industry and entrepreneurs in the sector are already implementing sustainable business models. In addition, consumers are increasingly engaged with environmental impacts, governments are taking preventive measures, and universities around the world are shifting their education system in the area for students to engage in sustainable chemistry.
Read the original story: https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/un-report-urgent-action-needed-tackle-chemical-pollution-global
Read the report: https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/27651/GCOII_synth.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed