Actress and environmentalist Antoinette Taus expressed gratitude after she was invited to the 7th International Marine Debris Conference at Busan, South Korea this week.
Taus announced the news with excitement in her Instagram page today, Sept. 21, where she shared a short video of how marine life is affected by coastal debris.
The conference is said to be “the world’s longest-running international conference series dedicated to the issue of marine litter and plastic pollution.”
“This is also the first time the conference is being held outside of the United States and comes at a crucial time for plastic pollution solutions across the world and the Asia-Pacific,” she said.
The conference takes place from the Sept. 18 to 23. Taus believes that it is “building on the momentum of past IMDCs by bringing together governments, industry, academia, civil society, and all relevant stakeholders, to discuss the latest science, strengthen collaborations, find solutions and catalyze action to address the urgent, global problem of marine litter and plastic pollution.”
“The 7IMDC is being organized by an Executive Committee comprised of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea (MOF / @MOFAKR_eng) and the United Nations Environment Programme (@UNEP), with the organizational support of the Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation (KOEM), and the technical support of U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (@NOAA),” she shared.
Since some parts of the conference will be hybrid, Taus encourages anyone interested to subscribe to the event to receive all the latest updates.
Taus also recently participated in World Clean Up Day. The campaign was able to collect “over 1,000 kilograms of mixed waste and plastic pollution,” as per her post on Sept. 17.
“Today is an urgent reminder that we need governments and global corporations to lead the way to a sustainable future,” she said. “Lasting change can only truly be achieved with systemic change, business unusual and action — from all of us.” JB
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