NAIROBI
\nHeads of State, environment ministers and other representatives from 175 nations, endorsed a historic resolution at the UN Environment Assembly to end plastic pollution, and forge an international legally binding agreement, by the end of 2024.
\nThe landmark resolution addresses the full lifecycle of plastic, including its production, design and disposal.
\n\u201cAgainst the backdrop of geopolitical turmoil, the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) shows multilateral cooperation at its best,\u201d said President of the Assembly, and Norway\u2019s Minister for Climate and the Environment, Espen Barth Eide. \u201cPlastic pollution has grown into an epidemic. With today\u2019s resolution we are officially on track for a cure.\u201d
\nThe resolution, based on three initial draft resolutions from various nations, establishes an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) which will begin its work this year, aiming to complete a draft legally binding agreement by the end of 2024.
\nThat in turn, is expected to present a legally binding instrument, which would reflect diverse alternatives to address the full lifecycle of plastics, the design of reusable and recyclable products and materials, and the need for enhanced international collaboration to facilitate access to technology, to allow the revolutionary plan to be realised.
\nThe UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said that it would convene a forum by the end of this year in conjunction with the first session of the INC, to share knowledge and best practices in different parts of the world.
\nIt will be based on open discussion, informed by science, and report back on progress throughout the next two years. Finally, upon completion of the INC\u2019s work, UNEP will convene a diplomatic conference to adopt its outcome and open it for signatures.
\n\u201cToday marks a triumph by planet earth over single-use plastics. This is the most significant environmental multilateral deal since the Paris accord. It is an insurance policy for this generation and future ones, so they may live with plastic and not be doomed by it.\u201d said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.
\nPlastic pollution soared from two million tonnes in 1950, to 348 million tonnes in 2017, becoming a global industry valued at $522.6 billion, said UNEP. It is expected to double in capacity by 2040.
\nThe impacts of plastic production and pollution on the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss and pollution are a catastrophe in the making, the UN agency said, with exposure to plastics harming human health, and potentially affecting fertility, hormonal, metabolic and neurological activity, while open burning of plastics contributes to air pollution.
\nBy 2050, greenhouse gas emissions associated with plastic production, use and disposal, would account for 15 per cent of allowed emissions, under the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5\u00b0C (34.7\u00b0F) in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change.
\nMore than 800 marine and coastal species are affected by this pollution through ingestion, entanglement, and other dangers, while around 11 million tonnes of plastic waste flow each year into the ocean. This could triple by 2040.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI Heads of State, environment ministers and other representatives from 175 nations, endorsed a historic resolution at the UN Environment Assembly to end plastic pollution, and forge an international legally binding agreement, by the end of 2024. The landmark resolution addresses the full lifecycle of plastic, including its production, design and disposal. \u201cAgainst the backdrop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-247523","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n