On May 26, 2023, the Global Plastics Policy Centre team of the University of Portsmouth, together with researchers from Dalhousie University, Canada, published a policy brief on the effectiveness of national action plans (NAPs) in the context of the global plastics treaty. The document was made in preparation for the second intergovernmental negotiating committee meeting (INC-2) of the global plastics treaty that is taking place in Paris from May 29 to June 2 (FPF reported).
The findings reported are based on the analysis of peer-reviewed articles on different NAPs, expert interviews, nations’ submissions to the ‘Potential Options for Elements’ document from UN Environment Program, as well as learnings and contributions from INC-1.
The analysis showed that uncoordinated, unmonitored, and non-binding NAPs are less effective. The authors state that issues like the lack of enforcement mechanisms or internationally inconsistent monitoring metrics raise concerns about the usage of NAPs to deliver certain goals under the global plastics treaty. Despite these problems, the adoption of NAPs was still widely supported during INC-1.
A major reason for the popularity of NAPs is their convenience to be tailored to each nation and their circumstances, according to the report. In the last section, the authors suggest six key factors that should be considered to maximize the effectiveness of NAPs, based on the evidence gathered. They propose “NAPs should…”:
- “be legally binding [and] supported by national legal and institutional frameworks.”
- “have stringent compliance measures to ensure national commitments are met.”
- “have robust monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and data sharing.”
- “be revised frequently to incorporate new knowledge and adapt to policy successes or failures.”
- “be supported by technical and financial assistance to ensure successful implementation and compliance.”
- “include national targets and implementation measures aligned to the global plastics treaty.”
As mentioned in their press release, this policy brief will be the first of a series of policy briefs to be published by the team at the Global Plastics Policy Centre: “Focusing on select “hot topics” from the treaty negotiations, the policy briefs will bring together key evidence from various data sources to shed light on each topic and aid the countries in their decision making journey.”
Reference
March, A. et al. (March 25, 2023). “Effectiveness of national action plans | global plastics treaty policy brief.” Global Plastics Policy Centre and Dalhousie University.
