Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten /   Ashanti, Grammy Award-winning singer, speaks at press briefing at UN world headquarters New York Apr. 30, 2019 on the upcoming ‘Play it Out’ concert to beat plastic pollution. 

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED NATIONS  – The President of the UN General Assembly María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés is spearheading a global call to action to help end the scourge of plastic pollution in the ocean. According to the UN’s climate agency, UN environment (UNEP), more than eight million tons of plastic ends up in the ocean annually; that’s equal to dumping one garbage truck of plastic per minute, at a cost of around $8 billion, in damage to marine ecosystems.

“It is estimated that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea”

-General Assembly President Espinosa Garcés.

Grammy Award-Winning Singer  Ashanti is  Part of the  Plastic Campaign

Credit:  UN Photo/Mark Garten  /   Ashanti (right), Grammy Award-winning singer, speaks at the press briefing Apr. 30, 2019 on  the upcoming ‘Play it Out’  concert to beat plastic pollution.    Also pictured (left to right): Molwyn Joseph, Minister of Environment of Antigua and Barbuda; María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the General Assembly; and Mona Juul, Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations.

“The problem that we’re are having with plastics in our ocean is really disheartening. The fact that  we are killing our planet and we are killing our animals. And it’s kind of our fault… we have to fix it. I don’t have kids yet, but I want my babies to be able to swim in the ocean without worrying about being poisoned. We’re poisoning our planet, we’re poisoning ourselves. I think  that causing awareness is the way to go. I am just really exciting to be able to participate to get the message out.”

-ASHANTI 

General Assembly President Espinosa Garcés said:  “I want to be very clear. Plastic pollution has very quickly and very urgently become one of the defining issues of our times, and I am not exaggerating, While we have known for decades that plastic  takes a long time to degrade and we believe that recycling programs were addressing this gap …  we now know that it has been far too little. An incredible amount of plastic has wound up in the oceans or  other environments. Everyday,  a dump truck full of plastic is dropped into the  ocean equaling up to 13 million tons per year in our oceans.  Almost  1 trillion single use plastic bags are used worldwide every year. That 2 million a minute. And the average time a plastic bag is used for is just 12 minutes. Then we throw it away. So only 9 percent of plastics are recycled. Plastics that degrade have turned into micro-plastics found everywhere from the depths of the sea to  the peaks of mountains to our drinking water , and to our skin even. We are killing our planet. We are killing ourselves.”

Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  Planet or Plastic? Exhibit United Nations World Headquarters New York, organized by the National Geographic Society and endorsed by the UN Office of the President of the General Assembly. It is presented in connection with World Environment Day (June 5). On display 24 May – 24 June 2019

As a response to this,  Espinosa Garcés said she committed during of her presidency, of the GA to supporting efforts that help to beat plastic pollution.   She said there are two key objectives: “Raise awareness globally and to introduce change within the UN headquarters so that we walk the talk. We have eliminated plastic straws within here as a step.”

Singer Ashanti is excited to be a part of the  global Plastic Campaign, and is looking forward to help making a change by raising awareness. To that end, Ashanti will  participate in  “Play it Out,”  a concert and benefit in Antigua & Barbuda June 1, 2019 dedicated to combating plastic waste in the UN and around the world.

 “We don’t think about the fact that oh I’m just going to use a straw today and throw it out 5 minutes later, oh I just had a plastic bag and I’m going to  throw it out. We don’t realize how that effects us on such a big level, and if there are millions of people doing that around the world, you can only imagine what is going on in the ocean. And it’s not the animals fault. I like to jump off  boats and swim, so when I got the  opportunity to be up here, I’m like this is right up my alley, we have to fix this because I  like the ocean. I want to be a part of something that is going to change. I think music is awesome, but to change  lives and change our future and the future of our children…I think is pretty cool. The concert will allow us to have a platform to reach millions of people.”

-ASHANTI