Pakistani police arrest thousands of Imran Khan supporters as capital locked down ahead of rally

Negotiators met Monday in Busan, South Korea, to try to create a treaty to solve the global plastic pollution crisis. This is the fifth time the world's nations have come together to develop a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution. In addition to national delegations, representatives from the plastics industry, scientists and environmentalists have shaped how the world tackles this growing problem. The planet is choking on plastic, according to the United Nations. Its lakes, rivers, oceans and human bodies pollute. Don't kick the plastic can or bottle, UN Environment Program executive director Inger Andersen said in a message to negotiators. This is a question of intergenerational justice for the generations who will come after us and who will live with all this garbage. We can solve this problem and we must do it in Busan, she said in an interview. The previous four global meetings revealed profound differences in goals and interests. This week's talks will continue until Saturday. Led by Norway and Rwanda, 66 countries and the European Union say they want to reduce the total amount of plastic on Earth by controlling design, production, consumption and where plastic ends up. The delegation from Micronesia, a hard-hit island nation, helped lead an effort to bring more attention to unsustainable plastic production, called the Bridge to Busan. Island nations are grappling with large quantities of plastic waste from other countries washing up on their shores. We believe the heart of the treaty is to go upstream and address the problem at its source, said Dennis Clare, legal advisor and plastics negotiator for Micronesia. There is a slogan: You can't recycle your way out of this problem. Some plastic-producing, oil and gas-producing countries, including Saudi Arabia, disagree. They vigorously oppose any limits on plastic manufacturing. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels. Saudi Arabia is the world's largest exporter of primary polypropylene, a common type of plastic, accounting for about 17 percent of exports last year, according to the Plastics Industry Association. China, the United States and Germany dominated global plastics trade in terms of exports and imports in 2023, the association said. The plastics industry is advocating for a treaty focused on plastic product redesign, recycling and reuse, sometimes called circularity. Chris Jahn, of the International Council of Chemical Associations secretariat, said negotiators should focus on ending plastic waste in the environment, not plastic production, to reach a deal. Many countries will not join a treaty if it includes production caps, he said. To continue to progress and grow as a global economy, there will be more plastics, Jahn added. We should therefore strive to keep these plastics in the economy and out of the environment, Jahn said. The U.S. delegation initially said countries should develop their own action plans, a position seen as favoring the industry. He changed his position this summer, saying the United States was willing to consider global targets for reducing plastic production. Environmental groups have accused the United States of backtracking as negotiations approach. Sarah Martik, executive director of the Center for Coalfield Justice, said the United States stood on the sidelines rather than leading, putting its thumb on the scale throughout the negotiations. She hopes this will not derail other countries' ambitions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a national strategy Thursday aimed at preventing plastic pollution, but Martik said she believes too many of the measures are voluntary to make a difference. Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon said it was a mistake for the United States to settle for lowest-common-denominator proposals just to get some sort of agreement. Luis Vayas Valdivieso, president of the Ecuadorian committee, recently proposed text for the sections he thinks delegations could agree on. Global production and use of plastics is expected to reach 736 million tonnes by 2040, an increase of 70% from 2020, without policy changes, according to the Intergovernmental Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. A study published in Science this month reveals that it is still possible to end plastic pollution. The policies that make the most difference are: requiring new products to be made with 40% post-consumer recycled plastic; limit new plastic production to 2020 levels; invest significantly in plastic waste management, such as landfills and waste collection services and implement a small tax on plastic packaging. The treaty is the only way to solve plastic pollution on this scale, said Douglas McCauley, a professor at UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley. McCauley co-led the research. Margaret Spring, conservation and science manager at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, said plastic pollution was once thought of largely as a waste problem. Today, this situation is widely seen as an existential crisis that must be addressed, said Spring, who represents the International Science Council in the negotiations. I've never seen people understand this issue evolve so quickly, given the complexity of the topic, she said. This gives me hope that we can actually start to make things happen.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: cgurgu@internetmarketingcompany.BizWebsite: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos