World Environment Day June 5: Don't let the ocean have more plastic than fish

(PLVN) - In 2025, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) continues to choose the theme "Fighting plastic pollution" for World Environment Day on June 5 - an urgent global call to comprehensively control the life cycle of plastic, from design, production, consumption to collection and recycling.

World Environment Day 2025 emphasizes the message of "fighting plastic pollution". (Photo: UNEP)

Ms. Inger Andersen – Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Executive Director of UNEP, warned that “no matter where you live, you cannot escape the impact of plastic waste.”

According to UNEP, without strong action, the amount of plastic leaking into the environment could increase by 50% by 2040. Microplastics have already found their way into food, drinking water and air, directly threatening human health and marine ecosystems. Every year, the world produces about 430 million tons of plastic, of which more than two-thirds are single-use products – quickly becoming toxic waste in the ocean.

In Vietnam, with 3.9 million tons of plastic waste generated each year, plastic pollution is an urgent problem, especially in coastal cities. In recent years, the government has made great efforts to build a strict legal corridor to manage the life cycle of plastic in Vietnam, from the National Strategy on Plastic Waste Management, to the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection, which for the first time introduced the concept of "circular economy " into the legal system. The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) mechanism stipulates that businesses must not only produce, but also collect and treat products after use.

Localities such as Quang Ninh, Da Nang , Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City, etc. have implemented models of waste classification at source, developing "green markets" and plastic-free residential areas. In particular, the programs "Ha Long Bay without plastic waste" and "Co To without plastic" in Quang Ninh have replaced more than 98% of foam buoys with environmentally friendly HDPE plastic buoys, creating a great spread at the local level.

However, in order to avoid “turning the ocean into a global garbage dump”, the fight against plastic pollution cannot be the government’s sole responsibility. Businesses need to innovate their products, and people need to change their behavior. A cloth bag instead of a nylon bag, a refusal to use a plastic straw – seemingly small actions are the beginning of big changes.

Plastic pollution is not the fault of plastic, but the fault of how we use and dispose of it. A plastic bottle can last 500 years if thrown away in the environment, but can also become a resource if recycled properly. World Environment Day 5/6 is an opportunity for everyone to reflect and act for a bluer ocean, for a bluer planet.

Do Trang

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/ngay-moi-truong-the-gioi-56-dung-de-dai-duong-nhua-nhieu-hon-ca-post550850.html