The first global treaty to tackle plastic pollution is about to be born?
The resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) will be held from 28 February to 2 March 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya and online. Hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) brings together representatives from the United Nations' 193 member states, business, civil society and other stakeholders to agree on policies to address the world's most pressing environmental challenges.
The overarching theme of UNEA-5 is "Enhancing action on nature to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals". This highlights the critical role nature plays in our lives and in social, economic and environmental sustainability. At the meeting, governments around the world will discuss ways to develop the first global treaty to tackle plastic pollution.
1. Plastic waste in Manila Bay
The amount of plastic in the oceans is untold – there are as many as 51 trillion pieces of plastic in surface water alone. Ocean plastic pollution harms animals, which ingest it, and the risks to humans of consuming seafood contaminated with it remain unknown. Most plastic entering the ocean comes from rivers: One report found that up to 95 percent of plastic comes from just 10 river systems, eight of which are in Asia. Much of this originates from developed countries, who have exported it to developing countries for recycling or disposal.
2. At present, three prototypes of resolutions have been formed
Existing global treaties cover elements of the issue: the Basel Convention regulates trade in waste, including plastic; the International Maritime Organization, the IMO, deals with marine plastic litter on ships; and the Stockholm Convention protects humans from plastic waste. harm. However, no one represents a holistic tool for problem solving at the global level.
The United Nations presented the idea of a global response to plastic pollution at its third Environment Assembly in 2017. It has established an open-ended ad hoc expert group on marine litter and microplastics to consider the form of a global agreement. Momentum has been building ahead of this month's talks, with 154 countries backing talks on a new global deal. Notably, the United States, the world's largest producer of plastic waste, announced late last year that it would participate in the negotiations. In order to begin negotiations on a global treaty, a resolution defining its scope and mandate must first be adopted at this month's Environment Assembly. Three such resolutions have been proposed and will be discussed at this meeting.
One of the resolutions, proposed by Rwanda and Peru and co-sponsored by about 50 countries including Norway, Chile, Pakistan and the European Union, is considered the most ambitious. It proposes an "open mandate" for the negotiating committee, meaning negotiators can work on a wide range of issues related to plastic pollution as discussions progress. It recommends a "full life cycle" approach to plastics, addressing plastic production and waste management. Its wording aims to address plastic pollution in any environment, not just the ocean.
The second resolution was proposed by Japan and supported by Antigua and Barbuda, Cambodia, Palau and Sri Lanka. The resolution specifically targets "plastic pollution of the ocean", focuses on the management of plastic waste (rather than production), and proposes a closed mandate, meaning negotiators can only address this aspect of plastic pollution as they work to reach a deal .
The third resolution is India's replacement resolution on single-use plastics, issued on January 31, and unlike other proposals, India's document focuses on a voluntary framework rather than the mandate to create a legally binding global agreement.
