World Setting Day: Stakeholders at Unity Bank Webinar Demand Pressing Motion on Plastic Air pollution

Environmental activists and local weather change advocates seized the chance of a webinar hosted by Unity Bank to name for pressing and coordinated motion to deal with Nigeria’s rising plastic air pollution disaster, describing it as one of many best environmental threats dealing with the nation in the present day.

The decision was made on the occasion marking this yr’s World Setting Day facilitated by Unity Bank’s Sustainability Workforce to trend out modern methods to curb plastic air pollution in Nigeria according to this yr’s international theme: “Ending Plastic Air pollution.”

In his remarks, Mr. Usman Abdulkadir, Govt Director, Threat Administration, Unity Bank Plc, reaffirmed the Financial institution’s dedication to sustainability, including that points like plastic air pollution carry deep threat implications for companies and communities.

“Environmental degradation is more and more a enterprise threat, not only a company social concern,” Mr. Abdulkadir acknowledged. “We should all start to view environmental stewardship as an obligation that cuts throughout sectors – finance, authorities, trade, and civil society. Unity Bank stays dedicated to integrating ESG ideas into its threat frameworks and sustainability agenda.”

Visitor audio system included main waste administration entrepreneurs and environmental activists resembling Sunday Kolawole Sholanke, Co-founder/CEO of PETsPoint Recycling Nigeria, and Omoh Alokwe, Co-founder/CEO of Road Waste Firm Restricted.

Talking on the Webinar, Mr. Sholanke decried the alarming quantity of plastic waste in Nigeria, placing estimates on the nation’s waste technology to about 596 million metric tonnes yearly, with 88% of it neither reclaimed nor recycled.

“Nigeria ranks because the ninth highest contributor to international plastic air pollution. A lot of Nigeria’s plastic waste results in landfills, drainage programs, and water our bodies, inflicting intensive environmental injury and posing severe well being dangers,” he defined.

He additionally shared startling international statistics: “Over a million plastic bottles and 10 million plastic luggage are produced each minute. In 2020 alone, eight million tons of plastic bottles had been produced globally, with lower than 30% collected and underneath 10% recycled. The remainder is dumped, burned, or deserted within the setting, worsening dangers of flooding, local weather disruption, and illness.”

He recognized poor waste administration tradition, low public consciousness, and lack of neighborhood assortment infrastructure as main components aggravating the Nigeria’s plastic waste disaster.

Calling on the monetary companies sector to be extra proactive, Sholanke urged Banks to put money into inexperienced financing by growing entry to inexpensive credit score for inexperienced companies and eco-friendly initiatives.

Additionally talking, Omoh Alokwe emphasised the function of regulators in strengthening enforcement and updating coverage frameworks to cut back dangerous practices that gasoline the worldwide plastic disaster.

Additionally talking in the identical useless, Mr. Ibukun Coker, Head of Technique and Innovation at Unity Bank Plc emphasised the Financial institution’s dedication to sustainable practices and environmental safety, highlighting the function of the monetary sector in driving significant change.

“Plastic air pollution isn’t just an environmental situation, it’s an financial and public well being disaster,” mentioned Mr. Coker. “At Unity Bank, we imagine that sustainability needs to be greater than a coverage; it have to be embedded in how we function, the tasks we finance, and the partnerships we construct.”

The webinar supplied a platform for strong dialogue round sustainable actions and modern options that may mitigate the escalating menace of plastic air pollution and promote environmental safety.

Unity Bank has persistently championed environmental causes, together with its annual Earth Day partnerships with non-profits resembling RESWAYE to wash the Royal Seaside in Elegushi, Lagos, a part of its mission to guard marine ecosystems. In its most up-to-date Earth Day marketing campaign, the Financial institution challenged each workers member throughout 32 states to plant a tree of their locality, driving a grassroots reforestation motion and reinforcing environmental consciousness