https://www.iucn.org/news/marine-and-polar/202203/unea-resolution-end-pl...
UNEA Resolution - ‘End Plastic Pollution’ - and IUCN role in implementation of the Treaty
Wed, 09 Mar 2022
The new UNEA Resolution,
‘End Plastic Pollution: Towards a legally binding instrument’, establishes an Intergovernmental
Negotiating Committee that will develop the specific
content of
the new plastic pollution treaty with the aim of
completing its work
by the end of 2024. The future is ours to improve,
and this
news from UNEA provides a strong message of
hope that we can indeed eliminate plastic pollution
from our environment with a
multi-pronged approach and international cooperation.
Addressing a global-scale problem
Rapidly increasing levels of plastic pollution represent
a serious problem at a global scale, negatively
impacting the
environmental, social and economic dimensions of
sustainable
development. The majority of marine plastic pollution
comes from
land-based sources, including urban and storm runoff,
sewer overflows,
beach visitors, inadequate waste disposal and
management, industrial activities, construction, and
illegal dumping.
The main ocean-based sources of plastic pollution are
the fishing industry, nautical activities, and aquaculture.
IUCN welcomes the Resolution
For nearly a decade, IUCN has worked on the problem
of marine plastic pollution. IUCN welcomes the move
toward
an international legally binding instrument on plastic
pollution made by Heads of State, Ministers of
environment and
other representatives from 175 nations that gathered in
Nairobi, Kenya, at the resumed fifth session of the
United Nations Environment Assembly on
the 2nd March 2022.
The UN member states decided that the following
elements
should be considered in developing the new treaty:
-
Global objectives to tackle plastic pollution in
-
marine and other environments and its impacts
-
Global obligations and measures along the full
-
lifecycle of plastics, including on product design,
-
consumption and waste management
-
A mechanism for providing policy-relevant
-
scientific information and assessment
-
A mechanism for providing financial support to the treaty implementation
-
National and international cooperative measures
-
National action plans and reporting towards the
-
prevention, reduction and elimination of plastic pollution
-
Treaty implementation progress assessment
The Resolution recognises that plastic pollution
constitutes a threat to all environments and poses
risks to human health, and very importantly, the role of
the private sector, and all stakeholders, in developing
and implementing the treaty, and
emphasises that the problem should be solved
through measures along
the entire life cycle of plastics, from extraction of
raw materials to
legacy plastic pollution. A mechanism is included for
directing
finance to nations to enable the agreement
implementation.
This can enable countries to implement plastic waste
management systems across the life cycle by
improving waste collection, building recycling
plants, or eliminating the open burning of plastic.
Since UNEA-1 back in 2014, the global community
has come a long way engaging to find solutions to address plastic
pollution. The sustained multi-year focus on plastics has laid the
foundation for where we are today, importantly
highlighting that the
current global governance framework is broken to get us out of the
current plastics crisis. This background laid the ground for the positive
mood and outlook around a global plastics governance instrument.
Peter Manyara, Program Manager, Coastal and Ocean
Resilience, IUCN ESARO
The Resolution highlights marine plastic pollution
The Resolution specifies concern over the specific
impacts of plastic pollution, that it can be of a
transboundary nature,
and needs to be tackled with a full lifecycle approach.
It also emphasises the urgent need to strengthen the
science-policy interface at all levels, improve
understanding of the
global impact of plastic pollution on the environment, and promotes
effective and progressive actions at the local, regional and global
level, recognizing the important role of plastics for society.
While the Resolution identifies a number of issues that
will be addressed, to comprehensively tackle plastic
pollution will require additional actions during the dialogues.
In Science, 2 July 2021, IUCN’s Joao Sousa as a
contributing author noted three goals to anchor a
solid agreement with action at its core.
These are only partially seen in the Resolution:
-
Minimise virgin plastics production and consumption – and 2. Facilitate safe circularity of plastics – these are simply noted in part as, [T]o promote sustainable production and consumption of plastics, including, among others, product design, and environmentally sound waste management, including through resource efficiency and circular economy approaches;
-
Eliminate plastic pollution in the environment –
-
this is specifically referred to as, [T]he urgent need to
-
strengthen global coordination, cooperation and governance to
-
take immediate actions towards the long-term elimination of plastic pollution, in marine and other environments, and of
-
avoiding detriment from plastic pollution to ecosystems and
-
the human activities dependent on them and also
-
[T]o promote national action plans to work towards
-
the prevention, reduction and elimination of plastic
-
pollution, and to support regional and international cooperation.
The Resolution underlines the importance of
promoting sustainable design of products and
materials so that they can be reused, remanufactured or recycled and
therefore retained
in the economy for as long as possible.
This includes the resources
they are made of, as well as minimising the generation
of waste, which
can significantly contribute to sustainable production
and consumption of plastics.
The economic cost
A recent economic assessment by IUCN supports the
rationale of addressing the economic cost of plastic
pollution detailed in the Resolution.
Plastic pollution affects fisheries directly through
damage to boats, plastic in fishnets and the impact of
Abandoned, Lost of Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG).
Direct and indirect impacts on marine ecosystems and
marine biodiversity – through ghost fishing for
example –
amplify the negative effects of plastic pollution.
Overall, marine plastic pollution plays a crucial role
in marine ecosystem degradation and the services
these
ecosystems provide.
This is not only a problem for the fisheries sector,
but can impact other sectors of the economy,
such as potential
losses to the tourism sector or increased costs of
beach clean-ups to avoid these losses.
Policy and economic guidance
Policy and economic guidance are integral to
addressing this complex problem.
IUCN’s in-depth analyses of regulatory tools such as Extended Producer Responsibility to identify gaps and
facilitate the exchange of best practices are
being cross-
linked with the on-going scientific and economic research to show how to intervene, and at which points,
to generate the most effective actions.
This work is now newly energised with the
UNEA5.2 Resolution, and it is also beneficial for
the support
it gives to an IUCN World Conservation
Congress outcome:
the Union’s Resolution 019 that calls
for stopping the global plastic pollution crisis in marine environments by 2030.
The Resolution aligns many of its provisions to
the work IUCN is already doing
IUCN’s work on
in-depth analyses of regulatory tools such as Extended Producer Responsibility
(to identify gaps and facilitate the exchange of
best practices) is being cross-linked
with the on-going scientific and economic research.
It shows how to intervene and at which points,
in order to generate the most
effective actions.
This work is now newly energised with the
UNEA5.2 Resolution, and it is also beneficial for the support it gives to the 2021 IUCN Resolution 019 that calls for stopping the global plastic pollution crisis in marine environments by 2030
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