COP21 and the absence of oceanic pollution

Though representatives from 195 countries came together to share knowledge, exchange ideas and seek a commitment from world leaders to mitigate the environmental emergencies that the world is now facing, oceanic plastic pollution didn't rear its ugly head at the COP21 climate talks in late 2015 (COP21, 2015).

Plastic pollution and climate change are synonymously linked, if you drew a venn diagram with plastic pollution in one circle and climate change in the other, the link would be fossil fuel combustion. So why wasn't the issue of oceanic plastic pollution on the cards of the program?

As the Environmental Protection Agenecy dictate on their website: ''Most direct emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels for energy. A smaller amount, roughly a third, come from the use of fuels in production (e.g., petroleum products used to make plastics).'' (EPA, 2015)


And as Anna Cummins from the 5 Gyres institute stated: "What does plastic pollution have to do with climate change? They both have their root in fossil fuels." 

With economies developing across the world and the subsequent rise in industrial plastic production to facilitate consumer lifestyles, never before has it been more necessary to create a global program regarding the reduction in plastic pollution.

With current estimates of 8 million tonnes of plastic entering our oceans every year, this figure will surely increase as world economies develop.

Who will clean up the oceans now? And how?