A Remarkable Journey to Highlight Plastic Pollution in The Ocean with Erden Eruç

The Light Millennium, Charitable Global Human Advancement Organization (status#501-c-3, 2001, New York), in collaboration with, the Global NGO Executive Committee (GNEC), jointly is proud to announce the following Ocean Day (8 June, A/RES/63/111) virtual panel on Tuesday, June 7, 2022.

The panel will highlight “A Remarkable Journey” by Erden Eruç, Ocean Ambassador, Ocean Recovery Alliance on the ever-increasing and threatening Plastic Pollution in our Ocean and ecosystem at large.

The session aims to contribute toward the 2022 Ocean Day’s theme, “Revitalization: Collective  Action for the Ocean.” Along with Erden Eruç’s remarkable journey, the session will present a panel of voices from the field, academic/researchers, diplomats, and non-governmental organizations.

Being critical to survival on our planet, of the 380 million tons of plastic produced worldwide annually, an estimated 8 million tons leak into The Ocean. Plastic production is projected to triple by 2050 with a 30% annual increase in plastic reaching The Ocean. Tragically, used masks due to COVID-19 are the latest source of ocean pollution. These topics along with energy production related pollution in The Ocean will be discussed and ideas toward solutions will be sought and presented.

Overall, the session aims to contribute toward awareness along with suggestions toward needed global policy requirements on single-use plastics, on how to not only simply recycle them but to develop a globally binding treaty to transform our systems in order to reprocess and to reuse these plastics in various fields including construction, manufacturing, and daily consumption.

Please REGISTER in advance:  
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYpduyvrTssEt2O5kz7HCRdeYfzTg4Vvic0   

The key organizer requests from all the speakers to make one pledge during the session along with encourages to all registered participants to email

<EVENT@LIGHTMILLENNIUM.ORG>, or post their PLEDGES with their full name and city/country in the chat-box during the session. The best ones will be selected and presented during the Interactive Session on June 7, 2022.

A few key points on our Ocean:

• “The Ocean Day” versus “World’s Oceans Day” concept will be discussed.

• The Ocean covers three-quarters of the Earth’s surface, contains 97 percent of the Earth’s water, and represents 99 percent of the living space on the planet by volume.

• The Ocean absorbs about 30 percent of carbon dioxide produced by humans, while buffering the impacts of global warming. Carbon emissions from human activities are causing ocean warming, acidification, and oxygen loss.

• The Ocean has absorbed more than 90 percent of the excess heat in the climate system. Ocean temperatures are at record levels, causing widespread marine heatwaves.

• The Ocean and people: Over three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods. Globally, the market value of marine and coastal resources and industries is estimated at $3 trillion per year, or about 5 percent of global GDP.

• Marine fisheries directly or indirectly employ over 200 million people. Coastal waters are deteriorating due to pollution and eutrophication. Without concerted efforts, coastal eutrophication is expected to increase in 20 percent of large marine ecosystems by 2050.

• Sustainable and climate-resilient transport, including maritime transport, is key to sustainable development.

• Around 80 percent of the volume of international trade in goods is carried by sea, and the percentage is even higher for most developing countries.
• Roughly 80per cent of marine and coastal pollution originates on land – including agricultural run- off, pesticides, plastics, and untreated sewage.

• Around the world, one million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute, while up to 5 trillion single-use plastic bags are used worldwide every year. Around 680 million people live in low- lying coastal zones – that is expected to increase to a billion by 2050.

Learn more here