On March 2, 2022, at the 5th meeting of the UN Environmental Assembly (UNEA) 175 nations agreed on a resolution to by 2024 create an international, legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution. The UN Environment Program will begin the process of consulting with stakeholders by the end of 2022 as the development process moves forward.
The resolution states the treaty can include binding and voluntary approaches to end plastic pollution that address the full lifecycle of plastics. Coalitions of member countries initially put forward three different proposals with varying scopes for the treaty. In the end, the resolution has been set to address the full lifecycle of plastic including production and disposal. It was reported that the resolution was set to include a reference specifically to concern about chemicals present in plastics, but some delegations including the United States objected to this and resulting in its removal. Instead, the resolution still mentions the need to consider the risk posed by plastic pollution to human and environmental health.
Inger Andersen, UN Environment Program’s executive director, has hailed the resolution as “a triumph by planet earth over single-use plastics.” She went on to say that “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.”
In the coming years the treaty will be developed, the agency “calls upon all Member States to continue and step up activities and adopt voluntary measures to combat plastic pollution, including measures related to sustainable consumption and production.”
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UNEP (March 2, 2022). “https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/historic-day-campaign-beat-plastic-pollution-nations-commit-develop.”
UNEA (March 2, 2022). “End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument.”
Hiroko Tabuchi (March 2, 2022). “The World Is Awash in Plastic. Nations Plan a Treaty to Fix That.”
Sharon Udasin (March 2, 2022). “Countries commit to develop legally binding plastics agreement.” The Hill
