UN negotiators have agreed to a road map for a global plastic treaty that would address plastic production and design in what delegates said was a key step to an ambitious deal, according to a draft resolution.
UN member states are meeting this week in Nairobi to plan for the first global agreement to tackle plastic pollution, a soaring environmental crisis that is destroying marine habitats and contaminating the food chain.
They hope to negotiate a full treaty within the next two years.
Going into the summit, the main sticking points were whether any agreement would be legally binding or voluntary, and if it would address plastic production and single-use packaging design or be confined to improving waste management and recycling.
The draft resolution, entitled “End plastic pollution: Towards an internationally legally binding instrument”, said the treaty should address “the full life cycle of plastic”, meaning production and design as well as waste.
It was finalised by technical experts in the early hours of Monday after a week of late-night negotiations. Government ministers and high-level officials joined the talks on Monday and were set to give final approval to the framework on Wednesday.
If the current draft were approved, it would be a setback for powerful oil and chemicals companies that manufacture plastic and were working behind the scenes to keep talks focused on waste.
The draft resolution also recommended the treaty promote the sustainable design of plastic packaging so it can be reused and recycled, which would be significant for big consumer goods companies that sell products in single-use packaging.
An intergovernmental negotiating committee would be formed to agree the details of a full treaty, with the goal of having an agreement ready for ratification in 2024, the draft said.
Inger Andersen, the executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEA), said on Monday the informal talks had “yielded very significant results”.
“I have complete faith that once endorsed by this assembly we will have something truly historic on our hands,” Andersen told delegates at the official opening of the UNEA 5.2 summit.
“We all know that an agreement will only count if it is legally binding. If it adopts a full life-cycle approach, stretching from extraction to production to waste.”
— Reuters
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