By Minwoo Park and Daewoung Kim
BUSAN, South Korea (Reuters) – Hundreds of environmental activists marched in the South Korean city of Busan on Saturday to demand stronger global commitments to fight plastic waste at U.N. talks in the city next week.
About a thousand people, including members of indigenous groups, youth and informal waste collectors, participated in the demonstration, the organizer said, and some carried banners reading “Reduce plastic production” and “Drastic reduction of plastic now! “.
Activists marched through the Busan Convention and Exhibition Center, where the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee (INC-5) will be held starting Monday to discuss a legally binding global agreement on plastic pollution.
The debate is expected to focus on whether the deal should seek to cut production, while big producers such as Saudi Arabia and China have said in previous rounds that it should prioritize less controversial strategies such as waste management.
“We are here with Greenpeace and our allies in the Break Free from Plastic movement to represent the millions of people around the world demanding that world leaders tackle plastic pollution by reducing the amount of plastic we produce in the first place,” he said. . Graham Forbes, leader of Greenpeace’s global plastics campaign.
People from different countries and all ages participated in Saturday’s demonstration, some wearing elaborately decorated hats made from discarded plastic items.
“It looks like the Earth and a living thing, because it meant that our living things are being affected by plastic pollution,” said Lee Kyoung-ah, 52, wearing a hat made from an abandoned plastic buoy.
Lee Min-sung, 26, said he also expected to see changes in consumers’ daily habits.
“I hope the culture of using ‘reusables’ becomes a fresh and modern movement, as that will reduce (waste) little by little,” said Lee, who brought his lunch from home in a glass container.
“I will pick up trash more often, when I have time, and throw away less to save the Earth,” said fourth-grader Kim Seo-yul, who flew from his home on Jeju Island to join the march.