Circular Economy : UNEA: Momentum is building for a global plastics agreement

Momentum is building for a global plastics agreement in the fight against plastic waste, according to the president of the UN Environment Assembly, Norway's Environment Minister Sveinung Rotevatn. Many countries are now calling for a binding agreement to reduce plastic waste, Rotevatn said at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), which is taking place because of Corona online. However, he said, it has been difficult to have real negotiations between countries online during this first part of the conference.

Whether member states will actually adopt a mandate to negotiate a plastics convention at the second part of the conference, which is scheduled as a face-to-face event in February 2022, remains to be UN Environment Assembly normally meets every two years in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, the headquarters of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Because of the pandemic, this conference was split in two. At the first meeting on Monday and Tuesday, member states adopted, among other things, the UNEP Strategy to 2025.

"Nearly seventy countries have already publicly expressed their support for a binding global agreement at various levels, according to WWF surveys, including Germany through the Federal Environment Ministry," said Alois Vedder, WWF's director of policy. He said it is imperative that the second half of the UN Environment Assembly make the decision to begin the negotiation process. "Because if we don't act, the amount of plastic waste in the oceans will double in the next 15 years."

Some eight million tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year, according to UNEP. "One thing is clear: Staying with the status quo is not an option," said Unep chief Inger Andersen. She praised Africa, where 34 of the 54 countries have already introduced some kind of plastic ban. Andersen, however, called for further action in this direction.