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UN adopts historic resolution aiming to end plastic pollution
25 Mar 2022At the meeting of the UN Environment Assembly held in Nairobi, a framework agreement to combat plastic pollution was agreed for the first time. He described the decision as the 'greenest agreement' after the Paris Climate Agreement.
For the first time, the international community has agreed on a framework to curb the world's growing plastic problem. The resolution adopted by the United Nations yesterday sets out an ambitious plan to develop a legally binding agreement to “end plastic pollution”.
UN officials described this world's first global plastic pollution agreement as a "milestone" and the most important "green deal" since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
Rwanda Environment Minister Jeanne d'Arc Mujawamariya said, "There is no time to waste as plastic pollution gets worse every day." “This decision is a historic milestone in the global effort to prevent our planet from being drowned in plastic.”
For the first time, the international community has agreed on a framework to curb the world's growing plastic problem. The resolution adopted by the United Nations yesterday sets out an ambitious plan to develop a legally binding agreement to “end plastic pollution”.
UN officials described this world's first global plastic pollution agreement as a "milestone" and the most important "green deal" since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
Rwanda Environment Minister Jeanne d'Arc Mujawamariya said, "There is no time to waste as plastic pollution gets worse every day." “This decision is a historic milestone in the global effort to prevent our planet from being drowned in plastic.”
Millions of tonnes of plastic enter the oceans every year, causing alarming images of turtles and other wildlife being caught in the waste. Even Mount Everest hasn't been spared from microplastic pollution. According to a National Academy of Sciences study, the USA is the biggest contributor to this flood, producing approximately 130.1 kilograms of plastic per capita.
The UN resolution said, "High and rapidly increasing levels of plastic pollution represent a serious environmental problem on a global scale. We recognize the urgent need to strengthen global coordination, cooperation and governance to take urgent measures to eliminate plastic pollution in the long term."
Some countries, states and municipalities have taken action to reduce plastic waste. Rwanda, for example, has banned plastic bags for more than a decade. In the United States, Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Sheldon Whitehouse (DR.I.) led congressional efforts on plastic pollution, including the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act that then-President Trump signed in 2020. But this latest move is the most concerted international effort yet to tackle the problem of plastic pollution.
Environmental activists and industry representatives also welcomed the decision. “The resolution has all the critical components that we think are necessary at this stage of the process,” Erin Simon, head of plastic waste and enterprise at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), told the Washington Post. “We commend governments for spending long days finding common ground to address plastic pollution and develop a meaningful solution,” the International Council of Chemical Societies, a trade association, wrote in a statement.
International Environmental Law Center lawyer David Azoulay said that the UN resolution had been prepared for years, and that this idea first surfaced in the UN Environment Assembly in 2016, in the context of marine plastics. “It was unthinkable to envision such an agreement,” Azoulay said.
Azoulay is pleased with the achievements of the resolution: The negotiating committee was also tasked with looking at plastic production, there is a special fund option to help finance the agreement, and the effects of plastic pollution on human health are mentioned.
However, the transition from decision to agreement will not be easy. “I see the fact that they are moving towards binding rules as a very good sign,” said Steven Blackledge, who runs the conservation program at the nonprofit group Environment America. “The devil is in the details.”
The UN negotiating committee will have a wealth of details to review in a relatively short period of time. Among many items such as reporting standards and financing mechanisms, the agreement will also need to address plastic production, which is perhaps the most complicated issue. “The million-dollar question is how much we talk about reducing greenfield plastic production,” Azoulay said.
This issue is likely to be controversial. Ahead of the conference, Joshua Baca, vice president for plastics at the American Chemistry Council, a trade association for chemical manufacturers, called restricting and regulating plastic production “a very shortsighted approach.”
Bjorn Beeler, international coordinator of the International Network on the Prevention of Pollutants, said he was doubtful that the timeline would be kept. "As it gets deeper into it, it will become a monster. I don't understand how you can make a deal in two years," he said, adding: "But this is really the first step. This is meaningful, this is important."
Any agreement that imposes restrictions on the production, use or design of plastic would affect oil and chemical companies that produce raw plastic, as well as consumer goods giants that sell thousands of products in single-use packaging. Additionally, the economies of major plastic-producing countries, including the United States, China, India, Saudi Arabia and Japan, will also be affected by the decisions.
Source: Green Newspaper
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