“For me plastic is not the main problem. It is a symptom of a problem that plagues our world today.”

July 27, 2023

My blog interview with Garima Poonia as published by Illuminem.com.

https://illuminem.com/illuminemvoices/an-interview-with-garima-poonia

“I am not scared. I am terrified” tells me Garima Poonia, in this conversation.

And why not? The state of our oceans continues to deteriorate rapidly. Ocean heating, acidification, pollution, Arctic and Antarctica meltdown, rising noise levels, cetaceans beaching – the list keeps growing exponentially. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (#AMOC) is a large-scale overturning motion of the entire Atlantic, from the Southern Ocean to the high north. Scientists say: “The AMOC is a big deal for climate”. Some like David Crookall, Howard Dryden, Michael Mann, Roberta Boscolo, Katharine Hayhoe keep reminding us day and night – of what could be coming our way if we fail to act.

An urgent rescue operation is underway to save Florida coral species from extinction as a mass bleaching event and die-off from unprecedented water temperatures spreads across reefs in the Florida Keys, reports CNN. The state of the Great Barrier Reef does not make news anymore.

Is there hope in the form of the first-ever legally binding international treaty governing the high seas – Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (#BBNJ) Treaty or High Seas Treaty? Or, by the way of a plastics #treaty, which should become the first legally binding international instrument aimed at curbing #plasticpollution at a global scale?

Just when a section of observers seem to be giving up on #mitigation and making a case for #adaptation. Just then some corporations and countries seem to be getting all set to mess up with the #seabed. And the forthcoming #COP does not inspire confidence in the prevailing #multilateralism.

We surely need more #women in Climate leadership roles and entrepreneurial mitigation of the climate crisis powered by the young inheritors of our beautiful Planet.

Garima demonstrates how she and her team are working to keep the Andamans pristine and trash free.