Steps towards a binding international treaty to combat plastic pollution were taken on Thursday 2 September in Geneva at a ministerial conference on marine litter and plastic pollution convened by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Germany, Ecuador, Ghana and Vietnam.
A draft resolution by Peru and Rwanda was supported by the 27 EU Member States. It proposes the establishment of an intergovernmental negotiating committee. The future Treaty would be “based on a comprehensive approach to prevent and reduce environmental pollution” - not just the marine environment - by promoting a circular economy that takes into account the whole life cycle of plastics and microplastics.
“To beat plastic pollution, we need a global agreement on plastics! 100 countries are now openly calling for it, and the EU stands firmly behind it. We can’t continue letting plastic waste destroy our oceans and threaten animals and whole ecosystems!” commented Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius.
“By 2040, the volume of plastic dumped in the oceans could triple”, warned UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen. She says that “a comprehensive circular economy approach could reduce [this volume] by over 80%”, as well as reducing virgin plastic production by 55% and greenhouse gas emissions by 25%. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)