What is it about?
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 169 targets for increasing sustainability. They are grouped into 18 areas, such as poverty, hunger and education. Climate Action is goal 13, and ‘Life Below Water’ (marine conservation) is goal 14. The SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations. The aim is to achieve them by 2030. They have been widely adopted by governments and companies around the world. Microplastics are pieces of plastic less than 5mm long. They are widely used in clothes, cosmetics and other products. The chemicals they give off are dangerous to marine animals and plants. Therefore, they are one of the things that might prevent us from achieving the SDGs. But surprisingly, the SDGs do not contain any specific targets around microplastics. Only Goal 14 (Live Under Water) has a small mention of reducing ‘plastic debris density’. None of the other SDGs have targets or indicators related to microplastics.
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Why is it important?
KEY TAKEAWAY: Microplastics are a major threat to our ecology and environment. Pollution by microplastics could seriously undermine our efforts towards sustainability. Governments will need to tackle microplastic pollution in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: (Micro)plastics and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, August 2021, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.cogsc.2021.100497.
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Resources
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