While all eyes are anxiously fixed on the Ukraine crisis, there is some good news coming from Nairobi where delegates from around the world are holding crucial talks on plastic pollution. The fifth United Nations Environment Assembly, which opened Monday, is considering a draft resolution by Rwanda and Peru, which is seeking to create a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution. The proposal has crucially sailed through the technical stage, an important step toward the global effort to address plastic pollution. Addressing delegates Monday, Rwanda’s Minister for Environment said a legally binding treaty would “reduce global plastic waste by curbing the manufacture and use of single-use plastics and foster a viable circular economy for plastics by considering their full life cycle.” The idea behind the draft resolution, which has also won support from dozens of other countries, is to focus on the entire plastic lifecycle, both human and environmental health elements, beyond just pollution and waste. The move is the boldest attempt yet in efforts to rid the world of plastics and help preserve Mother Earth for future generations. However, there are other, much weaker alternative resolutions on the table that are limited to fighting marine plastic pollution. It is vitally important that delegates at the ongoing talks throw their weight behind the right proposal to pave the way for a decisive global instrumental against plastic pollution. In Nairobi, the international community has an opportunity to speak with one voice and take a historic step toward tackling one of the greatest threats facing both the current and future generations. By backing the draft resolution, nations would move closer to reversing the trend of destruction of ecosystems caused by plastic pollution. Globally, the plastic crisis has come with dire consequences and any meaningful intervention would require a binding treaty, and not half-hearted effort. Figures show that, at least two million plastic bags are used every minute around the world. On average, a plastic bag is used for just 12 minutes – but takes up to 1000 years to decompose. Today, on average, a person consumes 43kg of plastic a year – a mindboggling increase of over 2000 per cent from 2kg in 1974. Recycling efforts have also been frustratingly slow, with just 9 per cent of plastics globally being recycled, while the world’s leading plastic manufacturers are set to increase production by a third. To reverse this unacceptable trend, the world must speak with one voice and embrace the most holistic proposal on the table – the one sponsored by Rwanda and Peru.
