Nearly 200 Countries Come Together To Create Global Plastic Pollution Treaty

In a glimmer of hope, 193 countries have come together to draft a legally-binding global treaty aimed at ending plastic pollution by tacking its entire supply chain.

In fact, Inger Anderson, Executive Director of the UN Environment Program, said the initiative will be the “biggest multi-lateral environmental deal” since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

According to New Scientist, governments of the participating countries met in Nairobi, Kenya, earlier this week to work on the first draft of the deal, with the actual treaty expected to be established sometime in 2024 or 2025.

The discussions were spearheaded by two leading suggestions: one, led by Peru and Rwanda, advocated working on all stages of the material’s life cycle, from its production to consumption and disposal.

Japan, on the other hand, wanted a more limited deal focusing solely on plastic waste in oceans.

It appears the draft deal is in support of Peru and Rwanda’s approach, allowing for more measures to be taken against how plastic is manufactured, used, and disposed of.

Furthermore, it’s important to note that the treaty will be legally binding, meaning that all adherents will have to subscribe to its policies by law.

Science reported that the nations involved will be tasked with adopting action plans, setting waste reduction targets, establishing new monitoring systems, and backing a global scientific advisory body.

This could see the organization establish standard measuring and accounting methods for dealing with plastic pollution, such as tracking the amount of material moving in and out of production houses. 

As for lower-income countries that may struggle to tackle pollution as compared to more developed nations, the treaty will work on a financial model to assist governments with fewer resources on how to deal with waste.

“We now have one text, it speaks to full life cycle, it speaks to legally binding, it speaks to a financing mechanism, it speaks to understanding some countries can do it more easily than others,” explained Anderson.

“It has been a long, hard road, but I’m very happy with the text we see now,” she said, emphasizing that it has yet to be finalized.

[via New Scientist and Science, cover image via Chernetskaya | Dreamstime.com]