As the world drafts the first-ever international agreement on plastic pollution, questions remain about which policies will be most effective, how to measure their effectiveness, and how to assess if we are doing enough to effectively protect and preserve the health of the environment. In this side event, we share quantitative tools to measure plastic emissions (i.e., plastic emitted to the environment), monitor environmental pollution, and assess risks to ecosystem health. Measuring plastic emissions, akin to measuring GHG emissions under the Paris Agreement, can inform baseline emissions, identify local sources of plastic pollution to inform management priorities, and help measure the effectiveness of interventions. Moreover, measuring plastic emissions can help us set reduction targets – akin to the 1.5ºC target for climate change. Measuring environmental pollution can help us understand local sources, inform the effectiveness of policies, and assess exposure to wildlife. Quantitative risk assessments can provide insights into the urgency of the issue, and whether current actions are enough to protect biodiversity. These tools are critical to informing what we do, how much we do, and if our actions are indeed enough.

Presenters:

• Chelsea Rochman, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
• Xia (Alice) Zhu, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto, LinkedIn, Facebook
• Erin Murphy, Postdoctoral Scholar, Ocean Conservancy, LinkedIn
• Eden Hataley, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto, LinkedIn