30th June 2023, New York/USA  -  Wishes 37 / 38 / 39

In the name of Peace and Justice.

I have three wishes today, which I present to you in the name of Peace and Justice - in the hope they may be fulfilled. 

My wishes concern the state of our oceans.

It seems that everybody thinks oceans have no borders so they belong to everybody and everybody can do with the oceans what they very well like.

Well, surely, I'm of a different opinion.

To start with, I'm utterly disgusted by the way oceans are being polluted.

There are many kinds of pollution to be detected in the oceans, but the main pollution is plastic which starts to accumulate at a staggering rate everywhere, uncontrolled, with no end in sight.

This has to stop! And this plastic pollution in the oceans has to be cleaned up, NOW!

So this is my first wish for today: That the UN General Assembly launch an international competition to present feasible and extremely efficient methods to clean up the oceans of all plastic. Shortly after the launching of such initiative, a definite decision must be reached and the actual clean-up started at a huge scale, to be completed within the shortest possible period of time.

Of course you'll say that's impossible. And you're right, it IS impossible. So let's do the impossible! Let's do it NOW!

The costs will be tremendous. And somebody has to pay. Who's going to pay those untold billions of USD to clean up the oceans of plastic?

This is my second wish for today: Obviously it's those who are directly or indirectly responsible for the plastic pollution of the oceans - in the past, present and future - who have to pay the bill for the clean-up. No excuses accepted.

How to calculate a fair share of who's covering the costs?

As for the past, I think it fair to divide the costs evenly between the producers of plastic on the one hand (irrespective of where the plastic eventually ended up), and the clients/consumers, whoever they are, on the other hand. And I think it's up to the respective governments to guarantee the payments and have the cash transferred to a special UN fund.

It is estimated that from 1950 till 2020, some 10 billion metric tons of plastic have been produced. If, for the purpose of cleaning the oceans of plastic, we set a price-tag of just USD 10 per metric ton produced, we reach a budget of USD 100 billion from the producers' side, plus another USD 100 billion from the consumers' side, for a total of USD 200 billion.

As for the present, say the four-year-period from 2020 to 2023 (during a time period when everybody knew perfectly well how deadly and irresponsible the use of plastic was), I think it appropriate to double the amount mentioned above, to make it a total of an additional USD 400 billion, to be divided equally between the producers of plastic (irrespective of where this plastic ends up) on the one hand, and the countries which are directly responsible for plastic to end up in the oceans (I understand that it is possible today to make an intelligent guess as to the total amount of plastic ending up in the oceans every year, and which countries are directly responsible for allowing this plastic to end up in the oceans).

As to the future, say as from 2024 onward, I think the costs (or rather the fines) for polluting the oceans with plastic must be astronomical. We don't want even one single plastic bottle to end up in the oceans any longer!

It is estimated that nowadays, more than 10 million metric tons of plastic enter our oceans every year. This is mind-boggling. It's just beyond what a normal human being could possibly imagine in his most absurd nightmare.

In my opinion - and this is still part of my second wish for today - countries that allow such pollution even in the future should be fined a minimum of USD 1 million per metric ton of plastic entering the ocean from their soil, EVERY YEAR!!! This would add up to some USD 10 trillion every year, as from 2024, that can be used to clean up the oceans and prevent any plastic from entering the oceans in the future.

And with this I'm coming to my third wish for today. And it's still about the oceans.

It can't be that the oceans just serve as anybody's playground. I think that the use of the oceans has to be much more strictly limited and regulated by the United Nations than what's already being done today. And the limited use of the oceans has to be TAXED. 

Take shipping - any kind of shipping, pleasure boats, cruise ships, ferries, merchant ships, oil tankers, military vessels, any other kind of shipping. Shipping has to be limited, and TAXED!

Or take fishing, which is still far too lax in regulations and must be rigorously restricted and very heavily TAXED!

Or take noise, which should be reduced to an absolute minimum and TAXED!

Or take the exploitation of natural resources in the oceans, which in my view should be stopped completely!

Very many aspects of our oceans' use have to be much more carefully scrutinized and questioned - regulated and taxed - for the benefit of nature, and for the well-being of future generations of human beings.

Such are my three wishes for today, which I present to you in the name of Peace and Justice, in the hope they may be fulfilled.

In the name of Peace and Justice, thank you!

next