Page 54 - Plastic News Issue August 2025
P. 54
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
ment that is “commensurate with what science polluter-pays principle,” the letter states.
tells us and our citizens are calling for.”
♦ The adoption of a treaty that can evolve over
The five key points include: time and is responsive to changes in emerg-
ing evidence and knowledge. The countries
♦ Reaffirming that the full life cycle of plas- write, “To this end, the treaty should pro-
tics includes the production and consump- vide for the possibility of decision-making,
tion stages and calling for a global target to through regular U.N. procedures, if all efforts
reduce the production and consumption of to reach consensus have been exhausted.”
primary plastic polymers to sustainable lev-
els, to be regularly adjusted with a view of The Washington-based Ocean Conservancy is
enhancing the level of ambition. “We also an official U.N. observer organization and has
call for an obligation for parties to report on been involved throughout the negotiation pro-
their production, imports and exports of pri- cess. The organization’s five treaty priorities are
mary plastic polymers, and to take measures to secure plastics source reduction; address
across the full life cycle of plastics to achieve abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded plastic
the global target,” the countries write. fishing and aquaculture gear; address microplas-
♦ The call for a legally binding obligation to tics; incentivize designing plastics for reuse and
phase out “the most problematic plastic recyclability; and include the expertise of the in-
products and chemicals of concern in plas- formal scrap collection sector as a critical par-
tic products,” including those “most likely to ticipant.
cause harm or hinder circularity,” as well as “We needed an ambitious plastics treaty at the
the creation of a global list of plastic prod- last round of negotiations in November, one
ucts and chemicals of concern.
that addresses the root causes of plastic pol-
♦ The call for an improvement in the design lution and empowers countries to work toward
of plastic products and the assurance they a future where we’re not drowning in plastics,”
cause minimal environmental impact to safe- says Nicholas Mallos, the organization’s vice
guard human health. president of conservation, ocean plastics. “Be-
tween that last meeting in Busan and the start
♦ The development of an effective means of of the negotiations in Geneva, an estimated 7.4
implementation and accessible, new and ad- million metric tons more plastics have entered
ditional financing, noting the special circum- the ocean, and that’s why we cannot delay this
stances of the least developed countries and agreement any further.”
small island developing states. “We under-
score the need to mobilize the necessary re- The Washington-based World Wildlife Fund
sources from all sources, public and private, (WWF) notes that while previous efforts to final-
domestic and international, in a way that en- ize a treaty have stalled, “a majority of ambitious
sures the achievement of the objectives and countries” continue to push for progress, “with
provisions of the treaty and guided by the only a small minority hindering momentum.”
54 PLASTICS NEWS August 2025
