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UN countries to create treaty to fight plastic pollution

Wanjohi Kabukuru

Associated Press

Tags: nature, Science, Environment
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FILE - Plastic bottles and other garbage float in Potpecko lake near Priboj, in southwest Serbia on Jan. 22, 2021. The U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) unanimously voted Wednesday, March 2, 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya to start to create a legally binding global treaty to address plastic pollution in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
Workers next to a giant art sculpture showing a tap outpouring plastic bottles, each of which was picked up in the neighborhood of Kibera, during the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) held at the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Delegates met to discuss a binding international framework to address the growing problem of plastic waste in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Delegates hold Ukrainian and E.U. flags to show their support for the country, during a photocall next to a giant art sculpture showing a tap outpouring plastic bottles, each of which was picked up in the neighborhood of Kibera, at the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) held at the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Delegates met to discuss a binding international framework to address the growing problem of plastic waste in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Rasa Sceponaviciute, E.U. Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), celebrates a unanimous vote at the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) held at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, March 2, 2022. The assembly unanimously voted Wednesday to start to create a legally binding global treaty to address plastic pollution in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Delegates celebrate a unanimous vote at the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) held at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, March 2, 2022. The assembly unanimously voted Wednesday to start to create a legally binding global treaty to address plastic pollution in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
David Azoulay, Managing Attorney of The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), center, celebrates a unanimous vote at the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) held at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, March 2, 2022. The assembly unanimously voted Wednesday to start to create a legally binding global treaty to address plastic pollution in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
David Azoulay, Managing Attorney of The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), center, celebrates a unanimous vote at the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) held at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, March 2, 2022. The assembly unanimously voted Wednesday to start to create a legally binding global treaty to address plastic pollution in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
A gavel made from recycled plastics sits on the podium next to Espen Barth Eide, left, Norway's Minister of Climate and the Environment, at the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) held at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, March 2, 2022. The assembly unanimously voted Wednesday to start to create a legally binding global treaty to address plastic pollution in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
FILE - A man walks on a mountain of plastic bottles as he carries a sack of them to be sold for recycling after weighing them at the dump in the Dandora slum of Nairobi, Kenya on Dec. 5, 2018. The U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) unanimously voted Wednesday, March 2, 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya to start to create a legally binding global treaty to address plastic pollution in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
FILE - Plastic-bottled soft drinks are displayed in fridges at a store in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on June 17, 2019. The U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) unanimously voted Wednesday, March 2, 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya to start to create a legally binding global treaty to address plastic pollution in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)
FILE - Joyce Njeri, 8, carries a torn sack holding the plastic bottles she has scavenged, as she walks amidst garbage and plastic bags at the garbage dump in the Dandora slum of Nairobi, Kenya on Nov. 12, 2015. The U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) unanimously voted Wednesday, March 2, 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya to start to create a legally binding global treaty to address plastic pollution in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
A giant art sculpture showing a tap outpouring plastic bottles, each of which was picked up in the neighborhood of Kibera, during the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) held at the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Delegates met to discuss a binding international framework to address the growing problem of plastic waste in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Delegates gather at the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) held at the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Delegates met to discuss a binding international framework to address the growing problem of plastic waste in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Amina Mohammed, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General and Chair of the U.N. Sustainable Development Group, arrives at the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) held at the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Delegates are meeting to discuss a binding international framework to address the growing problem of plastic waste in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Felix Moloua, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic, speaks at the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) held at the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Delegates are meeting to discuss a binding international framework to address the growing problem of plastic waste in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Delegates hold Ukrainian and E.U. flags to show their support for the country, during a photocall at the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) held at the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Delegates met to discuss a binding international framework to address the growing problem of plastic waste in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

FILE - Plastic bottles and other garbage float in Potpecko lake near Priboj, in southwest Serbia on Jan. 22, 2021. The U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) unanimously voted Wednesday, March 2, 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya to start to create a legally binding global treaty to address plastic pollution in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)

NAIROBI – United Nations countries have agreed to create a legally binding global treaty to address plastic pollution in the world's oceans, rivers and landscape.

The U.N. Environment Assembly voted unanimously Wednesday at its meeting in Kenya's capital Nairobi for a resolution “to end plastic pollution."

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It sets the stage for international negotiations designed to produce a treaty by 2024.

“Today we wrote history. Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic," said Espen Barth Eide, Norway’s minister for environment and climate and the assembly's president. “With today’s resolution we are officially on track for a cure.”

After a week of debate, negotiators fashioned proposals — one by Peru and Rwanda and others by India and Japan — into a framework for a global approach to prevent and reduce plastic pollution, including marine litter.

The treaty would cover the full lifecycle of plastics, including production, design and disposal.

“It is not always you get such a major environment deal,” Inger Andersen, executive director of the U.N. Environment Program, told a news conference. Anderson called the endorsement by representatives of 175 member counties “the most significant global environmental governance decision since the Paris (Climate) Agreement in 2015.”

According to a recent Pew study, the global plastic industry is valued at $522.6 billion and 11 million metric tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year.

The environmental group Greenpeace said the U.N. panel's decision is a “big, bold step to end plastic pollution.”

Graham Forbes, global plastics project lead at Greenpeace USA, said that until a strong global treaty is signed, the organization and its allies will keep pushing for a world free of plastic pollution with clean air and a stable climate.

“This is a big step that will keep the pressure on big oil and big brands to reduce their plastic footprint and switch their business models to refill and reuse.” Forbes said.

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