Associated Press
- As climate change and pollution become more severe, countries are enacting new legislation to protect the planet.
- Many countries are banning single-use plastics; Kenya has implemented some of the most severe penalties for using plastic bags.
- Norway created a bee highway to protect pollinators.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
From student walk-outs to the Extinction Rebellion, a growing number of people worldwide are asking companies and governments to address the growing consequences of climate change. While there is still a dire need to cut down greenhouse-gas emissions, some countries have started enacting policies aimed at decreasing the use of plastics, protecting insects, and limiting car use.
Here are some the most notable and interesting environmental policies emerging around the world.
Bans on single-use plastics are becoming more common.
Nicky Loh/Reuters
The equivalent of one garbage truck full of plastic waste enters the ocean every minute. So countries around the world are increasingly trying to reduce the use of single-use plastics, such as bags, bottles, and packaging, to cut down on that pollution.
The list of nations that have banned plastic in some form includes: Rwanda, France, New Delhi, Jamaica, Taiwan, Morocco, Kenya, and more. According to a report by the UN, 127 countries have or are working toward plastic bans.
Recently, the EU passed a ban on single-use plastic that aims to eliminate the production of 10 items, including straws, starting in 2021. The goal is to shift the production of these disposable products to use more sustainable materials.
Kenya’s plastic bag ban is considered one of the most extreme of its kind.
AP Photo/Sayyid Abdul Azim
Kenya’s ban on plastic bags, which went into effect in 2017, is one of the strictest environmental laws on this list. Anyone in Kenya who is found to be selling, manufacturing, or carrying the bags could face fines of up to $38,000 or up to four years in prison.
According to The Guardian, 50 people were arrested in ban-related raids in February 2018.
Some places are embracing car-free zones or days.
inavanhateren/Shutterstock
Many cities around the world have select pedestrian-only spaces, but more and more places are starting to expand these zones and do away with automobiles for longer periods of time. Quite a few small islands in Croatia are car-free, for example, and several towns in Switzerland do not allow for automobiles. Plenty of other villages, towns, and cities have special car-free days.
These policies both protect pedestrian safety and lower CO2 emissions. Some cities have found that such bans can reduce particulate matter: Beijing, China, which bans cars once a week, saw a roughly 9% decrease, according to the Washington Post. But Mexico city, which has a similar ban, has not seen the same success.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- How many carbon emissions you can actually save by doing these 10 things
- 23 images that show how much we’ve reshaped planet Earth over the last century
- We’re altering the climate so severely that we’ll soon face apocalyptic consequences. Here are 11 last-ditch ways we could hack the planet to reverse that trend.
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Paige Bennett)