Pushing Africa’s plastic revolution

Denis Aheto on stage in front of Environment TD Walter Bean Lectuerer, Dr. Denis Aheto, shares five ways to advance global solutions for healthy oceans Plastics make up more than half of marine litter and, i n 2020, over 700 million pounds were dumped worldwide with much of the debris washing up on the shores of Africa. Ironically, the biggest polluters are not African nations. It is the largest developed and rapidly developing countries that are propelling th issue , and it will continue to worse if action is not taken. So how do we safeguard our oceans for future generations and realize a sustainable future? Thanks to the generous support of TD, Dr. Denis Aheto was able to share his vision with Waterloo as he was this year's TD Walter Bean Professor in Environment. "Plastics is a transboundary issue; one where we don't currently have a coordinated effort to address the root causes and deal with the levels of trash," Dr. Aheto. "We must look at a multistakeholder approach incorporating community, policy, Aheto advocated for five interrelated methods the global community should pursue tackle plastic pollution: investing in training knowledgeable professionals and transferring knowledge between developed and developing nations , implement ing policy at national and international levels , increasing issue awareness through advocacy, building partnerships across sectors to co-design, creat e and implement activities, prioritizing intergenerational equity to ensure future generations inherit the same resources that the previous generation had.