NEW DELHI -- Government bans on plastic can be effective in cutting back on waste, but poor follow-through has left many such bans ineffective, the U.N. said in a report Tuesday.
, with its release timed for , noted that rules limiting the use of plastic bags had decreased their use in places such as Morocco, Rwanda and parts of China, sometimes significantly. But elsewhere things haven't gone so well.
A ban on disposable plastics in New Delhi, for instance, has had only limited impact "because of poor enforcement," the report said.
New Delhi has tried repeatedly over the past decade to ban the use of thin plastic bags, most recently announcing a heavy fine for rule-breakers. But the bags remain ubiquitous across the city, blowing in the wind, piled in ditches and readily offered in hundreds of thousands of shops. Elsewhere in India, including the states of Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh, there have been better results. India is hosting this year's World Environment Day.
"Plastic pollution is a huge issue everywhere," U.N. Environment chief Erik Solheim told The Associated Press in an interview. He praised India for its growing focus on environmental protection but also noted that while travelling in the country he'd seen "some of the most beautiful scenic places, but destroyed by plastic pollution."
"So the problem is big, but the ability to change is also big," Solheim said.
The U.N. made a series of recommendations to make plastics bans more effective, from encouraging more co-operation from businesses to offering incentives.
The report notes that by some estimates, as many as 5 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year.
In drought-prone Cyprus, the president said Tuesday that he wants his country to play a co-ordinating role in the efforts of nations in the Mediterranean and Middle East to deal with climate change.
After chairing a meeting of environmental experts and top government officials on the topic, President Nicos Anastasiades said in a statement that he gave instructions for Cyprus to play a bigger role in a part of the world that's particularly susceptible to climate change.
