Plastic straw pollution drawing global attention

By 2025, the fast-food chain aims to "drastically" cut plastic in Happy Meal toys worldwide. More-sustainable toys could be made from cardboard and recycled materials, the company says.

The UN health agency now ranks air pollution on a par with smoking or an unhealthy diet. As a result, it has issued new, stricter guidelines they claim could save millions of lives.

With greenhouses as far as the eye can see, the southern Spanish region of Andalusia has been nicknamed the "Sea of Plastic". Intensive farming is the norm and it helps feed the European market with fruit and vegetables all year long. It also produces an estimated 33,000 tonnes of plastic waste every year. Until two years ago, this waste was exported to countries such as China, Pakistan and Turkey. But now that these countries are refusing to take rubbish from rich countries, the "Sea of Plastic" is faced with the urgent challenge of recycling its own waste. Our correspondents report.

Kinshasa, a megalopolis of at least 12 million people, is known for its heaps of rubbish and rivers covered with plastic bottles. The Clean Plast company collects, processes, and recycles all types of plastic waste in the Democratic Republic of Congo with the aim of cleaning up the city.

Lake Victoria, the planet's second-largest freshwater lake and the largest in Africa, is in serious danger from pollution. Because lakeside communities from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have practically no access to sewage infrastructure, a constant flow of sewage, fertilisers, garbage and plastic waste is suffocating what has long been the main provider of food and livelihoods in this part of East Africa. Despite what seems like an uphill struggle, young activists are sounding the alarm in order to raise awareness. Our France 2 colleagues report, with FRANCE 24's James Vasina and Camille Nedelec.

Tetiꞌaroa, an almost deserted Pacific island northeast of Tahiti, is a sanctuary for birds, sea turtles and all sorts of marine life. The atoll is perhaps most famous for being bought by US actor Marlon Brando. But this picturesque French Polynesian island is being invaded by plastic waste washed ashore by ocean tides. As a result, a team of volunteers have been to Tetiꞌaroa for a clean-up operation. Our colleagues from Polynésie la première report, with FRANCE 24's Jennie Shin.

The yearly practice of "stubble burning" in Northern India has far-reaching effects. Delhi, some 250 kilometers away, once again faces dangerous levels of smog as farmers burn off their fields to prepare for the next crop. It's a major cause of air pollution in the country.

New air quality guidelines from the WHO could have saved the lives of almost 180,000 people in 2019, the European Environment Agency has revealed.

In Mali, a bizarre plastic monster roams the streets. But it's no demon — rather contemporary artist Zol, who uses his otherworldly costume to draw attention to plastic pollution.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has called China a "savior." The people around the Bor copper mine, however, fear for their future, as Bor is part of the strategic investments around China's New Silk Road to Europe.

Oil giant Shell will pay a Nigerian community $111m (£80m) over an oil spill more than 50 years ago. A spokesman said the payment would mark the "full and final settlement" to the Ejama-Ebubu community over a spill during the 1967-70 Biafran War. The company has maintained that the damage was caused by third parties.

In Ghana, second-hand clothes once worn by Westerners are polluting ecosystems and causing significant public health problems. Every day, 160 tonnes of clothes arrive in the country: garments that were donated to charities in Europe or the US and are sent to Africa by recycling companies. An entire economy is based on the reselling of these old clothes, but few are in a fit state to be sold on. In the capital Accra, these unsellable garments form a huge textile mountain on the edge of the Atlantic. Residents regularly burn it, exposing locals to harmful fumes. Our France 2 colleagues report, with FRANCE 24's Camille Nedelec.