This month, plastic has been all over the news.

On 3 August, the Lancet launched its new Countdown on health and plastics, a way to independently track action on plastic.

It was launched in anticipation that an upcoming convention in Geneva would finalise a comprehensive Global Plastics Treaty that would require countries to act on plastic pollution.

Just one day after the tracker was launched, delegates from 170 countries met in Geneva for the sixth round of negotiations.(Last year’s talks failed, when fossil fuel-producing countries blocked the attempts of 100 countries to limit virgin plastic pollution.)

Last week, and the day before the end of the talks, the draft of the Chair’s text failed to impress the High Ambition Coalition –a group of countries supporting tough measures. Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage was also unimpressed, saying it did not address many important aspects.

The talks collapsed and while no agreement was made this time, there is clearly a desire for more plastic action.

You can help keep the pressure up by signing Surfers Against Sewage’s petition demanding a stop to plastic pollution: https://act.sas.org.uk/a/people-vs-plastic-petition.

(Image credit: Surfers Against Sewage).