Are you a journalist interested in covering plastics? Join this Mongabay Webinar to learn how to report on this pressing topic from science, civil society, and journalism specialists.
Experts say that plastic pollution presents a global human health crisis. The world produces around 400 million metric tons of plastic every year. These plastics can contain thousands of chemicals, many of which are linked to cancer and negative reproductive human health impacts.
This year, nations will resume negotiations on a legally binding treaty to curb the production of plastics. Many questions remain about what a potential global plastic treaty will include.
Panelists:
- Charles Pekow, freelance journalist and Mongabay contributor
- Ana Lê Rocha from the Global Plastics Program at GAIA
- Philip J. Landrigan, MD from the Global Observatory on Planetary Health at Boston College
Event details
When: June 24th, 2025 at 12:00 pm UTC
Where: Live on Mongabay’s YouTube Channel and LinkedIn page.
Register: Click here and tell a friend!
The experts
Ana Lê Rocha
Ana Lê Rocha is an environmentalist who serves as an amplifier of voices from the Global South to global engagements. She is Brazilian and has been permanently living in Tanzania since 2010. Ana became an activist as a child during Rio1992, “the Earth Summit,” and built over 30 years of local, national, regional, and global advocacy. She is a Zero Waste implementer and plastic advocate with over 15 years of service in grassroots organizations aiming to create positive systemic change in the waste sector and build the foundation for a socially just and climate-resilient world. Ana is the Director of the Global Plastics Program at Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), providing leadership and strategic vision to GAIA’s international plastic policy work.
Charles Pekow
Charles Pekow is an award-winning journalist and Mongabay contributor covering the effort to create a United Nations agreement to control plastic pollution and other international and hazardous waste stories for Mongabay. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, Earth Island Journal, Northern Virginia, Truthout, SpeciesUnite, and others. His major scoops have included revealing how the first Trump administration was undermining the Endangered Species Act and how the United States was facing deadly pipeline leaks and explosions. Charles earned a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University.
Philip J. Landrigan
Philip J. Landrigan, MD, MSc, FAAP, is a pediatrician and epidemiologist. He directs the Global Observatory on Planetary Health at Boston College. His research examines the impacts of hazardous exposures in the global environment – climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss – on human health, especially children’s health. He co-chaired the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, which found that pollution causes 9 million deaths per year. He currently leads the Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health, which finds that plastics cause disease, disability, and premature death at every stage of their life cycle. Philip is deeply committed to translating science into public policy to protect health, save lives, and advance the common good.
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About Mongabay
Mongabay is a nonprofit environmental science and conservation news platform focused on providing cutting-edge independent journalism from nature’s frontline. We pride ourselves in producing reporting that has substantial, tangible impacts around the world.