Giulia Carlini of CIEL, delivers the WMG @ UNEA statement at the Ministerial Conference on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution, on September 2nd, 2021. The powerful feminist statement is as follows:
” Thank you chair,
Excellencies, distinguished delegates – As Women’s Major Group, we are concerned about several issues that have NOT been highlighted extensively in the draft Ministerial Statement.
Firstly, plastics are toxic across the life cycle, impacting our health and that of children. The next generations cannot avoid pollution from plastics: babies are born with microplastics and toxics that accumulate in the body and that negatively impact health, often irreversibly. Among others, plasticizers and hormone-disruptors found in many plastics can lead to infertility, diabetes, and cancer. Additionally, plastic production, consumption, use, and disposal contribute negatively to the 3 major crises facing our planet today, those of pollution, biodiversity, and climate.
We are also concerned about the impacts of plastic waste and processing of plastic waste on women workers, and on human rights. As research has shown, women in the plastics industry have a 5-fold increased risk to develop breast cancer.
However, these harms are not inevitable, and the Women’s Major Group is encouraged by the progress of these discussions and the ambition expressed by a number of countries. We look forward to the continued cooperation, and full and meaningful participation of civil society and stakeholders, especially women and girls, in all their diversity.
Thank you“
