World Environment Day 2025 : Ending plastic pollution

Dr N Munal Meitei *

Environment Day observed across Manipur on 05 June 2025 :: Picture Courtery - Chronicle News

Environmentalism is an appreciation of the natural world and its future. World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5with this year's theme, "Ending Plastic Pollution".0ver the last 53 years, it has become the biggest wheel and the most significant global platforms for environmental protection. Republic of Korea will be the host.

Plastic harms human health and biodiversity pollutes every ecosystem from mountain tops to the ocean floor. Globally, more than 400 million tons of plastic is produced every year, half of which is single use. Of that, less than 10% is recycled.An estimated 11 million tons end up in lakes, rivers and seas annually. That is approximately the weight of 2,200 Eiffel Towers all together.

The planet consumes 5 trillion plastic bags — that's 20 lakhs a minute - 75 kg per person annually. If these plastics are put one after another, they could go around the earth 7 times every hour and can cover half of India. Some 98% of single-use plastic products are from "virgin" feedstock.

The level of greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production, use and disposal of conventional fossil fuel-based plastics is forecast to grow to 19% of the global carbon budget by 2040.

Microplastics — tiny bits of degraded polymers that are ubiquitous in our air, water and soil — have lodged themselves throughout the human body, including the liver, kidney, placenta and testes. It is estimated that each person consumes more than 50,000 plastic particles per year,weighing 5 gm per week —and many more if inhalation is considered.

University of New Mexico Health Sciences researchers have detected microplastics in human brains at much higher concentrations than in other organs—having increased 50% over just the past eight years. When we act to reduce greenhouse gases, people think it's at the cost of economy. Here, every country looks through a wrong lens.

But the truth is if we save climate today, it will be our economic opportunity for future. The benefits of such interventions exceed 9 times the cost of investment, whereas inaction is 3 times more costly than ecosystem restoration. Every rupee invested in restoration can bring back ?2520 in ecosystem services.

Restoration boosts livelihoods, lowers poverty and builds resilience and slows climate change. Restoring just 15% of land could avoid up to 60% of expected species extinctions. Climate action is not for reducing emission but for choosing a path for new development and future job creation. We are at the crossroad. Our decision today will make the earth livable.

If we don't act today, mankind may go extinct from this planet. If humanity is to survive with a semblance of quality that we enjoy today, all of us need to act quickly to limit and reverse anthropogenic climate change and environmental destruction. Climate change is the main driver of environmental degradation with all-time maximum temperatures recorded this year.

Much of the world felt the impacts, not just in heat but flooding, melting glaciers, rise in sea levels, pandemics and also flash floods, hurricanes, wildfires, drought, excessive snow or desertification. Globally, according to Prof Schellnbur of Germany, climate change added equal heat of 4 atom bombs of 15 kilotons each second.

Restoring environment without tackling climate change would be like giving prescription without buying medicines. Thus, every Nation should take a pivotal role to fight back climate change. Our State needs immediate restoration of all the poppy and jhum cultivated areas. Trees and forests are a critical part of environmental safeguard. 20% earth's oxygen is produced by forests.

Every minute, forests to the size of 20 football fields are cut with 15 billion trees per year. By 2030, the planet might have only 10% of its natural forests and all forests on the planet might be gone in the next 100 years. One ton of carbon is stored by a tree and gives out oxygen for 10 people.

Between now and 2030, the afforestation of available 350 Mha of global degraded land could generate Rs 657 trillion in eco-system services and remove 25 gigatons of greenhouse gases that could be a big solution.

In 2023, Manipur lost 13.9 kha of natural forests equivalent to 7.97 Mt of CO2 emissions. Biodiversity loss is another challenge. Species, once lost is loss forever and now it's to the tune of 3 species per hour and maximum of our species might be extinct by 2100. The oceans absorb 25% of all human CO2 emissions. Due to climate change, ocean acidity is expected to increase by 150% in 2100.

If so, all the sea creatures including plankton which produces 65% of all earth's oxygen might be extinct. A third of the food that human consume—around 1.3 billion tons—is wasted every day which will be enough to feed 3 billion people but emit 4.4 gigatons of green-house gas. Manipuri style of feast is wasting too much food challenging our economy and environment.

To understand true environmentalism, we need to travel back to the 1920s where the global population had yet to reach 2 billion. Atmospheric CO2 was around 300 ppm, compared to 410 ppm today. Everything in peace. Nevertheless, it is the world that we dream for.

Fueled by nostalgia for a rural era that was rapidly being lost to the slums and a worldview that celebrated a spiritual connection with the natural world, from Hinduism/Christianity/Islam to transcendentalism to paganism. And constructed a farrago of unscientific philosophies that hoped to restore humanity's relationship with the environment.

Modern environmentalism is the heir to both these traditions, the scientific and pragmatic and the spiritual and nostalgic. We need to restore at least 1.5 billion hectares by 2030 if we are going to safeguard the web of life on Earth and avoid real consequences for ourselves. Now is the time to move from committing to action to acting on commitments to prevent, halt and reverse.

In the universe there are billions of galaxies, in our galaxy also there are billions of planets. But there is "Only One Earth". How long we will survive on earth will depend on how we act today for the planet. We are the generation that can make a peace pact with environment. On coming the World Environment Day, 2025, let's plant trees to take care of the mother Earth .