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- The United Nations approved a landmark agreement to create the world’s first-ever global plastic pollution treaty, describing it as the most significant environmental deal since the 2015 Paris climate accord.
- Member states held talks for more than a week in Nairobi, Kenya, to agree the outline of a pact to rein in soaring plastic pollution, an environmental crisis that extends from ocean trenches to mountain tops.
- Government officials cheered and punched the air after the adoption of a resolution to create a legally binding plastic pollution treaty, which is due to be finalized by 2024.
- The historic resolution, entitled “End Plastic Pollution: Towards an internationally legally binding instrument”, was adopted with the conclusion of the three-day UNEA-5.2 meeting, attended by more than 3,400 in-person and 1,500 online participants from 175 UN Member States, including 79 ministers and 17 high-level officials.
- The Assembly will be followed by “UNEP@50,” a two-day Special Session of the Assembly, marking UNEP’s 50th anniversary where Member States are expected to address how to build a resilient and inclusive post-pandemic world.
About UNEP
- The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading environmental authority in the United Nations system.
- UNEP uses its expertise to strengthen environmental standards and practices while helping implement environmental obligations at the country, regional and global levels.
- UNEP’s mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.
- “We’re making history today and you should all be proud,” said Espen Barth Eide, president of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA). “Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic. With today’s resolution we are officially on track for a cure.”
- The resolution, which UNEA calls “the most significant environmental deal since the Paris accord,” is written in broad strokes and an intergovernmental committee is now tasked with negotiating a binding treaty that will have ripple effects on businesses and economies around the world.
- This would also have a significant impact on the economies of major plastic-producing countries, including the United States, India, China and Japan.
- Although UN officials were united in celebrating the agreement to have a plastic treaty, there remain disagreements over what should be include in a final pact
Need of this treaty
- Any treaty that puts restrictions on plastic production, use or design would impact oil and chemicals companies that make raw plastic, as well as consumer goods giants that sell thousands of products in single-use packaging.
Scale of the problem
- Plastic pollution soared from two million tonnes in 1950, to 348 million tonnes in 2017, becoming a global industry valued at $522.6 billion, said UNEP. It is expected to double in capacity, by 2040.
- Mismanagement of more than 7.7 billion metric tonnes of plastic waste globally over the next 20 years is expected, which is equivalent to 16-times the weight of the human population.
- Among the many applications of plastic, plastic packaging is the largest.
- A 2019 report by the Center for International Environmental Law suggests that by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions from plastic could reach over 56 gigatonnes, 10-13% of the remaining carbon budget.
Impact of Plastic Pollution
- The impacts of plastic production and pollution on the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss and pollution are a catastrophe in the making, the UN agency said, with exposure to plastics harming human health, and potentially affecting fertility, hormonal, metabolic and neurological activity, while open burning of plastics contributes to air pollution.
- By 2050, greenhouse gas emissions associated with plastic production, use and disposal, would account for 15 per cent of allowed emissions, under the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C (34.7°F) in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change.
- More than 800 marine and coastal species are affected by this pollution through ingestion, entanglement, and other dangers, while around 11 million tonnes of plastic waste flow each year into the ocean. This could triple by 2040.
- The India Plastics Pact was officially launched at the annual sustainability summit of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
- It was launched on September 3, 2021 with an aim to bring together businesses across the Indian Plastic chain to move towards a circular plastic system.
Three tasks in India’s Plastic Pact:
- The system would help in reducing the use of problematic plastics in the country.
- It would retain the materials that are valuable in the economy for regular use.
- It would generate jobs, investment and opportunities in the plastic system in India.
The major targets
- It wishes to define a list of unnecessary plastic packaging and the items for which measures can be taken to address them through redesigning and innovation.
- India targets to reuse plastic packaging on a 100% scale.
- At Least 50% plastic packaging to be effectively recycled.
- 25% average recycled content across all plastic packaging must be present.
Question:
Which is the headquarters of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)?
[A] Geneva
[B] Nairobi
[C] Paris
[D] New York
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