World Leaders Agree on Major Step Toward Treaty to End Plastic Pollution

Source: World Leaders Agree on Major Step Toward Treaty to End Plastic Pollution

The United Nations Environment Assembly recently met in Nairobi, Kenya for the UNEA5.2 conference and agreed to develop a global treaty on plastics. Titled “End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument,” the document has everybody excited.

“This will go down in history as the day when the world put aside its differences to decisively address the pollution caused by plastics throughout their life cycles,” said Christina Dixon of the Environmental Investigation Agency in the press release.

Dianna Cohen of the Plastic Pollution Coalition called it a “historic achievement.” Joanne Green of Tearfund said, “The launch of negotiations for a global UN plastics treaty is a historic moment in the fight against plastic pollution. Today marks the first step towards justice for communities impacted by the burning and dumping of plastic waste.” 

This was a surprise ending given that, according to The Financial Times, the American Chemistry Council (ACC), home to all the petrochemical companies that make plastic from fossil fuels, had backed a proposal from Japan—titled “Draft Resolution on an international legally binding instrument on marine plastic pollution“—that focused just on cleaning up plastic waste in oceans and ignored issues of plastic production on land.

Instead, the proposal submitted by Peru and Rwanda, titled “Draft resolution on an internationally legally binding instrument on plastic pollution,” with the keywords “legally binding” in and “marine plastic” out. According to the final draft:

“The intergovernmental negotiating committee is to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment henceforth referred to as the instrument, which could include both binding and voluntary approaches, based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full lifecycle of plastic.”

Surprisingly, even the ACC is cheering about this agreement.

“For the first time the international community has agreed on a framework to develop a legally binding treaty to end plastics in our environment. That’s great news,” said Joshua Baca, vice president of ACC’s plastics division. “America’s plastic makers welcome the resolution because it will accelerate a circular economy in which plastics are reused instead of discarded. It’s ambitious – winning will mean the end of plastics in our environment. But we believe this is a game we all can win.”