Environment

 EcoWatch -  More than half of people on Earth — approximately 4 billion— lack access to safe drinking water, which is double the number estimated in 2020, a new study by REACH global research program has found.Launched by University of Nairobi and University of Oxford’s School of Geography and the Environment in 2015, REACH focuses on the improvement of Africa and South Asia’s water security for the poor.

“[A]n estimated 4.4 billion people lack safe drinking water across 135 low- and middle- income countries, which is more than double the global estimate made in 2020,” the study, published in the journal Science, said. “According to the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation resolution declared by the United Nations, water services must ensure sufficient quantity, safety, reliability, physical proximity, affordability, and nondiscrimination. These goals are challenging in rural areas of Africa and Asia and in sparsely populated regions where safe drinking water services on premises are costly and complicated to maintain.”

EcoWatch -  The U.S. has shifted its policy position and is now in favor of supporting limitations on global plastics, Reuters confirmed. As reported by Grist, the Biden administration announced in closed-door meetings this week that it supported global efforts to limit plastic pollution via the United Nations’ plastic treaty. Previously, the U.S. had held the stance of allowing individual UN member states to make their own decisions on plastic production, Plastic Pollution Coalition reported.

“Science and common sense tell us that to solve plastic pollution, we need to turn off the tap of plastic production,” Jen Fela, vice president of programs and communications for the Plastic Pollution Coalition, said in a statement. “Industry is already producing more plastic than the world can handle, and it is poisoning people and the planet; we simply cannot produce more.” The Biden administration has not publicly announced the decision at the time of writing, but the U.S. Department of State confirmed the announcement with Grist.