"It's urgent to address the interface of plastics & #HumanRights. The gaps & shortcomings in the area are posing a truly global threat. A rights-based approach to the plastics lifecycle can help prevent & redress human rights infringements." — @SRtoxics. undocs.org/en/A/76/207
Indeed, from extraction to production, through transport, use, and disposal, plastics are impacting at least 10 of the most fundamental human rights.
In detail, at each stage of its lifecycle, plastics threatened the right to:
🟡 Life,
🟡 Health,
🟡 #HealthyEnvironmentForAll,
🟡 Housing,
🟡 Water & sanitation,
🟡 Adequate food,
🟡 Equality and non-discrimination,
🟡 Information,
🟡 Participation,
🟡 Effective remedy.
ACCESS TO INFORMATION: All people need to know what’s in the plastics products they consume daily and how those #Toxic chemicals will affect their health.
PARTICIPATION: When policies on #Plastics are being discussed & implemented, affected people — especially Indigenous Peoples — must be part of the process. Looking at the upcoming UNEA5.2, it's critical to guarantee an inclusive & meaningful participation of ALL affected parties.
ACCESS TO REMEDY: If anyone is harmed by any stage of the plastic life cycle, companies must be made to repair those harms.
PREVENTION & PRECAUTION: #Plastics have to be redesigned to reduce known or unknown risks & harms.
Solutions to #BreakFreeFromPlastic must be assessed to make sure they uphold #HumanRights.
POLLUTERS PAY: If plastics companies are causing harm through pollution, they must repair it.
BUT risks & harms must first be prevented so no rights are infringed to begin with!
The first session of the #PlasticHealthSummit draws the spotlight on the interconnection between environmental & human health.
Scientists are sharing their latest findings on plastics & blood, fetal development, & hormone-related disorders related to plastic.
In May, two Guyanese citizens filed a constitutional court case that challenges Exxon's offshore oil drilling project as it exacerbates global warming & threatens #HumanRights.
Experts are now raising their voices in warning that the same project poses major environmental risks.
Despite dire climate warnings against new #FossilFuel development, Exxon's massive new oil project in Guyana is set to be the company’s biggest new oil play globally, releasing 125m tons of CO2 per year.
And it’s incredibly risky.