UN members in legal move to end plastic pollution
UN member states at the UN Environment Assembly (Unea-5.2) recently agreed to develop a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, making it one of the world’s most ambitious environmental actions since the 1989 Montreal Protocol which effectively phased out ozone-depleting substances.
The adopted UN resolution outlines the development of a robust treaty that allows for global rules and obligations across the full life cycle of plastic.
This will hold nations, businesses, and society accountable in eliminating plastic pollution from the environment.
The WWF said it welcomed the decision and urged the world’s governments to seize momentum for eliminating plastic pollution and act just as strongly and decisively in developing the full content of the treaty by 2024.
“WWF commits to support the work of Unea’s Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee in finalising the important details of this historic treaty over the next two years.
“Pressure has been mounting on governments for a legally binding treaty to address the plastic pollution crisis. More than 2.2 million people around the world have signed a WWF petition calling for this, while over 120 global companies, and more than 1 000 civil society organisations, have also backed calls for a treaty.
“The WWF calls on world leaders to build on this overwhelming global support and today’s watershed moment by establishing an ambitious global treaty on plastic pollution by 2024 that:
• Is legally binding with common rules and regulations that can scale up
circular economy solutions worldwide.
• Incorporates global regulations
across the full life cycle of plastics, including global bans on harmful products and actions, product design standards and measures that reduce virgin plastic production and consumption.
• Recognises the critical role of
the informal waste sector in driving a circular economy and enables the participation of this sector in the negotiations.”
Marco Lambertini, director general, WWF International, said: “We stand at a crossroad in history when ambitious decisions taken today can prevent plastic pollution from contributing to our planet’s ecosystem collapse. By developing a legally-binding global treaty on plastic pollution, our world leaders are paving the way for a cleaner and safer future for people and the planet.
“But our work is far from over – world leaders must now show even more resolve in implementing a treaty which addresses our current plastic pollution crisis and enables an effective transition to a circular economy for plastic. This requires not just any treaty but one with clear and strong global standards and targets that will create a level-playing field that incentivises nations to abide by common rules and regulations while also penalising harmful products and practices.”
Alice Ruhweza, Africa regional director, WWF, commented: “Africa has demonstrated collective leadership in supporting the call for a new global treaty on plastics and today we have taken a massive leap in the right direction. Onwards to making the treaty a reality.”
Prabhat Upadhyaya, senior policy analyst, Climate and Plastics, WWF South Africa, added: “Plastic pollution is not a challenge for any one individual, society or country alone.
“It is also not a crisis of the future but of the present, not limited to any one location but all around us. It impacts individual species as well as entire ecosystems. It threatens the well-being of societies and economies that are dependent on their health.
“It is in this context that WWF welcomes the consensus decision of the 195 UN member states, to start the negotiations towards an ambitious treaty to address plastic pollution.
“In addition to being legally binding, the treaty also needs to build provisions for making financial, technological and capacity-building support available and accessible to enable and strengthen effective implementation by developing countries, especially for African countries.”