Three local governments in Virginia voted to adopt a 5-cent plastic bag tax for grocery, convenience, and drug stores. Rachel Karasik talked to The Wash about potential equity issues with such taxes and the effectiveness of plastic bag policies.

On World Oceans Day, the United Nations Development Programme hosted “A Conversation with the 2020 UNDP Ocean Innovators” that highlighted a suite of inspirational ocean protection and restoration projects UNDP is supporting through the Ocean Innovation Challenge. The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University was among those highlighted for its Plastics Pollution Policy Inventory

In an editorial on a new tax instituted by Roanoke, VA, on single-use plastic bags, the Richmond Times-Dispatch cited a 2020 analysis by the Nicholas Institute that sought to chronicle the past 20 years of government responses to lessen levels of plastic pollution.

The Nicholas Institute was among the nine winners of the United Nations Development Programme's 2020 Ocean Innovation Challenge for its Plastics Pollution Policy Inventory.

The Bass Connections program offers Duke students of all schools and levels an opportunity to collaborate on research addressing nuanced societal challenges. Guided by Duke faculty, students gain experience applying knowledge, research, and skills in interdisciplinary projects. Most project teams collaborate with partners outside Duke, including companies and government agencies.

Duke University researchers have created a new online resource designed to help local governments, conservation groups, businesses and other stakeholders identify the best technologies to clean up plastic pollution in our oceans or prevent it from getting there in the first place.

Duke researchers set out to determine how governments around the world are responding to oceanic plastic pollution. Their search led them to compile and analyze an inventory of nearly 300 policies instituted between 2000 and mid-2019 to address the issue.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted momentum for government action to address plastic pollution. The authors of a global review of government responses over the last 20 years have observed complex impacts from the pandemic on international and national efforts. However, it seems local governments have pushed the pause button, particularly in the case of single-use plastics in the United States.

Governments at every level have taken steps over the last decade to reduce the flow of plastic pollution into the world’s oceans, according to a Duke University policy analysis published today. The analysis finds, however, that the vast majority of new policies have focused specifically on plastic shopping bags. More study needs to be done to determine whether they have worked.

The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University is pleased to announce Kathinka Fürst as a new faculty affiliate. Fürst holds a dual appointment as assistant adjunct professor of environmental policy at Duke Kunshan University (DKU) and serves as associate director of DKU’s Environmental Research Center