On Wednesday, the United Nations approved a landmark deal to establish the first ever international plastic pollution treaty. The United Nations described it as the most significant environmental agreement since the 2015 Paris climate agreement. The outline of a pact that will curb soaring plastic pollution was reached by the member states in Nairobi after talks lasted more than a week. This environmental crisis affects all levels of society, from ocean trenches to mountaintops.
After the adoption of a resolution to establish a legally binding plastic pollution treaty (which is expected to be finalised by 2024), government officials cheered and punched each other. Espen Barth Eide President of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) stated, “We are making history today and we should all be proud.” “Plastic contamination has become an epidemic. We are now officially on the path to a cure with today’s resolution.
The resolution, which UNEA describes as “the most important environmental deal since the Paris agreement”, is written in broad strokes. A committee of intergovernmental representatives is now tasked by negotiating a binding convention that will have ripple effects on countries and economies around the globe. Any treaty that places restrictions on plastic production or use would have a negative impact on oil and chemical companies that make raw plastics, as well the consumer goods giants that sell thousands products in single-use packaging.
This would also have a significant effect on the economies of the major plastic-producing nations, including the United States and China, India, China, Japan, and China. Although U.N. officials praised the agreement to have a treaty on plastic, there are still differences over what should be included in a final pact. Franz Perrez from Switzerland, the ambassador for the environment, stated that U.N. officials were united in celebrating this agreement.
“This is a division among those who want to find the solution and those that don’t want it for whatever reasons,” he said at a news conference in Nairobi Tuesday. According to an IPSOS poll, overwhelming public support exists for a U.N. plastic pollution treaty. Delegates were quick to celebrate what they had achieved at Nairobi.
“This is only the beginning, and we have a lot more work ahead of us,” stated Monica Medina (head of the United States delegation), in tears. “But it is the beginning to the end of the scourge that plastic waste has on this planet.”
(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff. It is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.