???? Why India is the world's biggest plastic polluter
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You are reading a condensed version of the EB Insights India newsletter, October 2024 edition. Want the latest India updates on ESG, business and policy? Subscribe to get the monthly newsletter in your inbox or explore the full selection of our newsletters here.
A study in the journal Nature that identified India as the world's biggest plastic polluter may not have come as a surprise to?Dr Brajesh Dubey, a researcher at the Indian Institute of Technology, whom I interviewed for our lead story on the country's plastic crisis. On a train journey across the country, Dr Dubey said he barely saw a patch of rail track that wasn't littered with plastic trash.
While it's convenient to blame people who litter, India's plastic problem begins upstream.?The government's support for the petrochemicals industry has resulted in the rampant production of non-essential plastics. It is no wonder that India does not support a United Nations global plastic treaty that imposes curbs on polymer production.
In this newsletter, India correspondent Vasudevan Sridharan contributed to a story that asks?if Asia's media companies are ready to refuse fossil fuel advertising amid pressure from the UN and a number of Western campaign groups, to stop the world's biggest climate justice obstructors from greenwashing.
In India, however, as his fellow journalist counterparts point out, restrictions on fossil fuel ads seem unlikely, as many of the country's largest media firms are owned by oil, gas and coal magnates. The control of large conglomerates over the media business also goes beyond advertising, and until there is an alternative model for funding, the status quo will likely remain.
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