Martin Koehring - Global Sustainability and Ocean Expert | Charity Board Member | TEDx Speaker | I help create multi-stakeholder partnerships & impactful research on 🌏 Climate 🌏 Nature 🌏 Blue Economy

International Plastic Bag Free Day: Progress on circular economy required to address plastic pollution

July 3rd marks International Plastic Bag Free Day, which is part of the #breakfreefromplastic movement, a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Preventing and reducing plastic pollution is an important topic for The Economist Group’s World Ocean Initiative (WOI). An often-cited statistic from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation shows why: by 2050 there could be a larger tonnage of plastic than of fish in the ocean. With only around 14% of plastic being recycled worldwide, a staggering US$80bn-120bn is lost to the global economy per year.

In a blog for WOI, I discuss how our recent coverage highlights the need for systemic change, concerted corporate action and international collaboration. Read the full blog here.

More posts on the ocean economy:

How to take action against ocean pollution from wastewater and sewageApril 8, 2024
How to invest better in the blue economyMarch 26, 2024
Moderating 6 sessions at the World Ocean Summit in LisbonMarch 8, 2024
How could ocean innovation accelerate sustainable development by 2030?January 10, 2024
Diagnosing the aquaculture systemNovember 8, 2023

Tags: ocean plastic plasticpollution plastics

I’m a global ocean, climate and sustainability expert with 20+ years of experience, including progressively more strategic and leadership responsibilities. My most recent roles include Global Director of Impact at the international sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future, Board Member at the New Economics Foundation (a think tank focusing on social, economic and environmental justice), Head of the World Ocean Initiative and Practice Lead (EMEA) for Sustainability, Climate Change and Natural Resources at Economist Impact (part of The Economist Group). My previous roles at The Economist Group include managing editor, global health lead and Europe editor at The Economist Intelligence Unit. I love to work with organisations that build a just, resilient and regenerative future for people and planet.

Over the years I have directed many sustainability-related research and thought-leadership projects with partners in business, government, academia and civil society, in areas such as food sustainability, a just energy transition and the role of business in society. I was also the editorial lead of the award-winning Sustainability Project.

As part of my wider engagement on sustainability, I am a trustee of the New Economics Foundation (a think tank focusing on social, economic and environmental justice). I sit on the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Inclusive Economies Advisory Group and the Sustainable Brands Turkey Global Advisory Board. I have also been a member of the Advisory Committee for the UN Environment Programme’s Global Environment Outlook for Business, a senior rapporteur at World Water Week, a faculty member in the Food & Sustainability Certificate Program provided by the European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability and a judge at the Reuters Events Responsible Business Awards.

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