175 parties, including the EU and its Member States, are meeting in Paris from Monday 29 May to 2 June for the second round of UN negotiations on a binding international treaty to put an end to plastic pollution by 2040, as promoted by the EU, a member of the international High Ambition Coalition (see EUROPE 13070/10).
At the opening of the high-level meeting, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius, reiterated the EU’s position in favour of binding measures to reduce the production of primary plastics, which is expected to triple by 2060.
“An international plastics treaty is our chance to stop plastic pollution by introducing global rules throughout the entire plastics life cycle. In the EU, we keep strengthening our legislation to reduce plastic pollution – from new EU-wide rules to reduce packaging (see EUROPE 13143/7) to measures on microplastics”, said the Commissioner.
The negotiations will be difficult because of differences of opinion on the structure of the future treaty between the supporters of ambition and the oil-producing countries, the United States, China and Japan, which favour national measures, better waste management and plastics recycling (see EUROPE 13078/10).
The treaty is due to be signed in 2025.
See the High Ambition Coalition ministerial statement: https://aeur.eu/f/74p (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)