Sawt Falasteen - Ivory Coast to host World Environment Day on June 5

Jean-Luc Assi, the country's minister of environment and sustainable development, called plastic pollution "a menace to us all".

Organised by the United Nations, more than 150 countries will take part in the event, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary.

The minister said the Ivorian government is committed to being "a leading example in sustainable development".

Ivory Coast was among the 196 countries that signed the Paris Climate Accords in 2016, with the goal of maintaining global temperatures below two degrees Celsius.

In November 2014, the country banned the production, sale and use of plastic bags.

Shopkeepers in the commercial capital Abidjan protested, however, and the law remains rarely enforced.

Last year, 175 nations agreed to end plastic pollution by crafting a binding UN treaty, which could come into being as soon as the end of 2024.

More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced worldwide each year, half of it for single use, according to the UN Environment Programme.

G.AbuOdeh--SF-PST