Today, Monday, 22 April 2024, marks World Earth Day.

This year’s celebration is on the theme: ‘Planet verses Plastics’ and it aims to draw attention on the serious issue of plastic pollution and to encourage all to adopt measures that ensure a healthy planet and a secured future for all.

To mark the day, Climate Communications and Local Governance (CCLG-Africa) has called on African governments to renew their commitments towards finding a lasting solution to the plastic menace.

In a statement, CCLG-Africa, stressed that just like the dangers posed by the burning of fossil fuels, plastic which takes several years to degrade equally poses threats to humanity. Water bodies including rivers, lakes and the ocean are inundated by plastic. Our communities are filled with plastic wastes which are threats to plants, animals and humanity as a whole.  

CCLG-Africa in joining other stakeholders and lovers of our planet is therefore demanding a 60 per cent reduction in the production of all forms of plastic by “2040.”

It urged African governments to adopt “comprehensive plastic control measures to save the environment whilst the United Nations (UN) should as a matter of urgency respond to global demands for adoption of a Treaty on Plastic Pollution to save our planet.”

It further called on all civil society organisations, academia, environmentalists, journalists, media organisations, and the global community to” join hands in calling on local authorities and governments to act now in order to save the planet.”