The Parliament of the Maldives has passed a law banning all single-use plastic material starting from the year 2025 onward.
This issue was brought to the Parliament’s Environment and Climate Committee by a group of students, lead by students of Ghiyasuddin International School.
They justified their reasons to ban plastic with examples of global issues and threats, a plan to address the issue, and steps the Maldives can take to reduce the use of single-use plastics.
This is the first time students addressed in the Parliament and the committee looked into the issue deeply before drafting a bill and passing it to the Parliament floor for debate.
With a total of 64 votes in favor of the bill at the end, the debate’s major argument was that the fisheries and tourism industry of the country depended heavily on the oceans and their well-being.
The Parliament agreed on the dangers of plastic for the Maldivian community and will promote the stopping of plastic products with their main focus on single-use plastics such as bottles and straws.
At the end of the debate, the Environment and Climate Committee called up on all the government offices to play their roles to stop plastic consumption.
