Plastic pollution is fast outperforming existing attempts to control it, and it knows no bounds. Countries and organizations cannot solve the problem on their own. It is a worldwide problem that requires a coordinated and globally united solution.

Plastic Pollution: A Worldwide Crisis

Plastic is a ubiquitous substance, and plastic pollution is likewise pervasive: plastic waste has been discovered on the highest mountain tops and in the deepest ocean depths. Plastic pollution has attracted the public’s attention in the recent decade, with countries all over the world increasingly taking action to combat it. There is no political disagreement regarding the need to reduce plastic pollution; world leaders all agree that this issue must be tackled. However, there are differing perspectives on how to proceed.

Many countries have made significant voluntary initiatives, creating the groundwork for far-reaching collaboration. However, voluntary agreements alone will not be sufficient to address the situation on a large enough scale. Policymakers must play an important role in providing the necessary conditions and incentivizing success. A worldwide treaty for a circular economy for plastics is the next required step in scaling up the existing successful voluntary agreements. We need to be coordinated, immediate action to enhance present initiatives and level the playing field.

The Global Plastic Treaty: A historic Moment

The United Nations Environment Assembly passed Resolution 5/14 in March 2022 to stop plastic pollution through an international legally enforceable instrument. This was the result of years of work by civil society and rights organizations, which was strengthened by increased public demand for action on plastic pollution. The resolution formed an international negotiating committee (INC) tasked with ironing out the delicate elements of a new plastic pollution treaty. The INC will start working on the agreement in the second half of 2022, with the goal of finishing it by the end of 2024.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities in 1995. Among its accomplishments was the 2012 founding of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter.

Beginning with its inaugural meeting in 2014, UNEA addressed this issue. UNEA 1 passed a resolution acknowledging the rising worldwide problem and requesting that UNEP provide a report on marine plastic and microplastic to UNEA 2. Parties at UNEA 2 in 2016 requested that UNEP conduct a study of the efficacy of global and regional governance initiatives for marine plastics, as well as assist poor nations in combating marine litter. In 2017, UNEA 3 examined a study on global and regional governance, which revealed that there is no current global framework that effectively addresses marine litter and microplastic. UNEA parties created an ad hoc open-ended expert committee on marine litter and microplastics in resolution 3/7. The expert group held its inaugural meeting in May 2018. The expert group’s fourth and final meeting held in November 2020. The expert committee reviewed a number of alternatives for controlling marine litter, such as creating a new treaty on plastic pollution or expanding current voluntary initiatives, such as the Group of ’20s (G20) Osaka Blue Ocean Vision and the Group of Seven’s (G7) Ocean Plastics Charter.

The draft resolution:

• There are clear references to the circular economy, the entire life cycle, and sustainable production and consumption.
• Highlights the significance of encouraging the circular design of goods and materials so that they may be reused, remanufactured, or recycled and hence remain in the economy for as long as feasible, together with the resources they are composed of, while also reducing waste output.
• Calls on all UN member states to continue and step up their efforts while encouraging action from all parties involved, including the private sector and acknowledges the significant contribution made by workers in informal and cooperative settings to the collection, sorting, and recycling of plastics in many countries.
• Encourages collaboration at the international, regional, national, and local levels while acknowledging the need to improve global coordination and governance to take prompt action.

What should we expect?

Even while the UNEA 5.2 resolution is a historic step, it is only the beginning. In order to implement a treaty that may have a genuine and ambitious impact on a circular economy for plastics, the negotiating process must address several crucial issues.

The news treaty must:

• Include legally obligatory provisions to avoid a patchwork of unconnected solutions, establish fair competition, and establish the ideal enabling circumstances for scaling up circular economy solutions globally.
• Consider the whole plastics life cycle, including product design, with the goal of keeping plastics in the economy and out of the environment, reducing the manufacturing and use of virgin plastic, and separating the production of plastic from the exploitation of natural resources.
• Provide a worldwide common vision and harmonized standards to increase global coordination and unite stakeholders around a single understanding and approach to addressing plastic pollution.
• Recognize that employees who labor in informal and cooperative settings make a substantial contribution to the collection, sorting, and recycling of plastics across many nations and that these workers must be included as essential stakeholders in the negotiations for the UN Convention on plastic pollution.

Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC1)

The first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC1) to create a legally binding international agreement on plastic pollution, including that which affects the marine environment, will be held in Punta del Este from November 28 to December 2, 2022. A multi-stakeholder forum and regional consultations are scheduled for November 26, and the bureau meeting is scheduled for November 27.

The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) was founded to create a legally enforceable international instrument on plastic pollution, notably in the marine environment. The INC plans to start working on this project in the second half of 2022 and finish it by the end of 2024.

The result of the discussions must be a comprehensive document that takes into account the whole lifetime of plastic and includes obligations, measures, and voluntary methods, as well as a financing system with stable and predictable financial resources for execution. Additionally, this legally binding document must address plastic pollution in the marine, terrestrial, and aquatic environments, encourage ecologically sound waste management and resource-efficient and circular economy techniques, as well as product design, and incorporate many SDGs.

ESDO’s initiatives toward Global Plastic Treaty

ESDO is working relentlessly to ensure biological diversity since its formation in 1990. It is the pioneer organization that initiated the anti-polythene campaign in 1990 which later resulted in a complete ban on polythene shopping bags throughout Bangladesh in 2002. Since then, ESDO has been advocating continuously for the complete ban of Single-use Plastic. As a result, the High Court of Bangladesh based on a writ petition filed by BELA on behalf of ESDO has ordered the authorities concerned to prepare the ground for banning single-use plastics in coastal areas, hotels, motels, and restaurants across the country in the 2021 year. Later in a hearing on 10th February 2021, the High Court of Bangladesh ordered the concerned authorities to phase out single-use plastic products by 31 December 2022 from the coastal area. Following the High Court’s order, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has issued a gadget instructing all concerned to completely stop the use of single-use plastic from 12 coastal districts of Bangladesh by 2023.

Report Launching of “Assessing Transboundary Movement of Single-use Plastic Waste Through River Channels in Bangladesh” and “Dialogue on The Upcoming Global Plastic Treaty”

Each day, 18 transboundary rivers in Bangladesh carry approximately 15,345 tons of single-use plastic waste. 2802 tons. 2519 tons come from India and 284 tons from Myanmar. According to an ESDO study, nearly half a million tons of single-use plastic waste enter our Bay of Bengal every year.

The study was conducted by ESDO in collaboration with the Plastic Solutions Fund and the Global Alliance of Incineration Alternatives (GAIA). This study aimed to increase regional collaboration for reducing the transboundary movement of hazardous plastic waste and advocate with government and regulators to advance policy decisions.

To conduct the study, baseline surveys had been conducted through questionnaires and carried out from December 2020 to July 2022 on a total of 7020 people from different societies like educated people, students, boatmen, fishermen, shopkeepers etc. where around 11,700 samples of single-use plastic waste were collected from transboundary streams and surrounding bank areas. A set of structured questionnaires was formed to ensure getting all relevant data from the targeted segment.

The transboundary rivers of Bangladesh which were assessed for this study are, in the case of upstream Mahananda, Dahuk, Karatoya, Tista, Dharla, Dudhkumar, Brahmaputra, Surma, Kushiyara; in the case of midstream Ganges, and in case of downstream Ichamati-Kalindi, and Naf.

The entire event was divided into two segments. The first segment was to launch the report and the second segment was to have an elaborate discussion on the upcoming Intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) on the global plastic treaty and how Bangladesh could act on it.
The second segment of the event was focused on the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) Resolution 5/14: End plastic pollution: towards an international legally binding instrument. The discussed issues & recommendations of this dialogue would be placed in the upcoming sessions of the Intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) which will negotiate the full text of the new plastics treaty.

The plastic treaty will be a great milestone for all of us. However, the emphasis should be on a game-changing infrastructure that will prevent plastic from ever reaching the ocean in the first place, rather than on recyclable or reusable choices.

Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC2

Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC2) held its second session in order to create a global, legally binding agreement on plastic pollution, including the marine environment At the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in Paris, France, from May 29 to June 2, 2023.

With the drafting of a “zero draft” of the new treaty for review at INC-3, Plastic INC-2 concluded by laying out a schedule for the period between sessions leading up to INC-3. Setting aside a day to talk about the synthesis report of elements that were not considered at INC-2 before the conference.

Delegates at the second encounter of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-2) to develop an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) about plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, gathered at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris, France. Two contact groups were held throughout the day and night, and they discussed objectives and obligations, measures of implementation (MoI), implementation measures, and other matters. Group 1, headed by Gwendalyn Kingtaro Sisior (Palau) and Axel Borchmann (Germany), examined the aims and substantial commitments of the ILBI’s future. The group gave their first impressions and put their emphasis on the 12 potential duties regarding options, such as:

• phasing out and/or reducing the supply of, demand for, and use of, primary plastic polymers;
• banning, phasing out, and/or reducing the use of problematic and avoidable plastic products;
• banning, phasing out, and/or reducing the production, consumption, and use of chemicals and polymers of concern;
• reducing microplastics;
• strengthening waste management;
• fostering design for circularity;
• encouraging “reduce, reuse and repair” of plastic products and packaging;
• promoting the use of safe, sustainable alternatives and substitutes;
• eliminating the release and emission of plastics to water, soil and air;
• addressing existing plastic pollution;
• facilitating a just transition, including an inclusive transition of the informal waste sector; and
• protecting human health from the adverse effects of plastic pollution.

The Committee decided to go with the oral decision.

Final Decision: 

• Urges members and observers to forward INC-2 reports to the Secretariat and requests the Secretariat to upload these submissions to the INC website;
• Requests INC Chair Meza-Cuadra, with the support of the Secretariat, to prepare a zero-draft text of the ILBI for consideration at INC-3, guided by the views expressed at INC-1 and INC-2, with a full range of options indicated.