Pakistan United Nations Environmental Program Leveraging Emerging Technologies to Combat Ocean Pollution

Oceans are an essential part to the stable functionality of the earth. Oceans are home to essential creatures in our ecosystem, such as phytoplankton that are responsible for monitoring oxygen levels. Oceans also are home to marine life which is fundamental source of food for many people. Despite the fact that oceans are such a vital part of life and environmental and ecological stability, they are subject to colossal amounts of pollution. Ocean pollution harms, and even kills marine life, such as in instances where marine life can be maimed by ocean debris. Chemicals dumped into the ocean contaminate marine life, which in turn contaminates any other animal that consumes them.

Ocean pollution is not limited in harming solely marine life. Chemicals and runoff can negatively impact humans, exposing them to toxins. Contaminated marine life can also expose humans to toxins which can cause a multitude of health issues. While there have been many efforts towards minimizing the amount of pollution put into the ocean, there needs to be more attention towards creating waste that is biodegradable. Pakistan understands the importance of combating ocean pollution and creating biodegradable waste. In Pakistan, debris and pollution is a prevalent and pressing issue that needs to be addressed.

Water contamination caused by ocean pollutants is a major public health concern within Pakistan. Citizens who rely on fishing as a means of income and survival have their livelihood at risk due to decreased marine life presence off our coast. Many Pakistani citizens are uninformed about the damage that ocean pollution has caused in the environment. Especially because they do not live near the ocean they do not see the direct impact of their pollution. In addition, Pakistani citizens are unaware of the benefit of biodegradable materials and how some of the trash they produce can be easily recycled.

In order to combat ocean pollution, Pakistan has established legislation aimed towards minimizing plastic pollution. However, Pakistani citizens do not adhere to the anti-plastic pollution laws, which has posed serious economic problems in coastal areas such as Karachi Harbour. Because of this, Pakistan is working toward implementing educational programs that inform citizens about the impact of their waste in hopes that it will get them to stop polluting. Pakistan is also attempted to establish laws in regards of creating more biodegradable waste. Pakistan believes that an effective method to combatting ocean pollution would be educational programs. 90 percent of ocean pollution comes from 10 rivers, some of which run through Pakistan.

Pakistan believes that implementing educational programs in this region could minimize ocean pollution, because many of the residents in this region are just simply uninformed about the impact of their waste. Pakistan supports the implementation aspects of the CLAIM project established in Europe, in this region as well such as pyrolizers and float booms. Pakistan believes that the implementation of Pyrolizers in this region would be instrumental in reducing a majority of the waste produced. Pyrolizers allow for plastic pollutants to be broken down into a non-toxic gas that can be reused to provide fuel for ships. Float booms are extremely beneficial in prventing ocean pollution because they target sources such as rivers. Considering many citizens do not reside near the coast, but rather dump pollutants into the rivers which then impact oceans, the development of float booms that filter pollution at river sites can prove to be beneficial.

Pakistan believes that ocean pollution is a major issue that needs to be immediately addressed. Pakistan supports all solutions that inform people of the impact of their waste, and allow for ways that pollutants can be prevented or recycled.