Back in 2022, the United Nations Member States met to discuss a new plan of action to address global plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. Over the next two years their goal was to “forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024”. This historic resolution at the UN Environment Assembly seeks to address the full lifecycle of plastic, from production and design to disposal. In a positive turn of events, the U.S. has changed course in their negotiations of this resolution, and in a major policy shift, will back the global target to reduce plastic production. This changed from its earlier stance to leave such decisions up to individual countries and subsequently puts the U.S. in direct opposition to countries such as Saudi Arabia and China. Final negotiations on this treaty will conclude at a November summit in Busan, South Korea; taking place after the U.S. presidential election. Previously, former President Trump has shunned global environmental agreements and went so far as to pull the U.S. out of the UN Paris Climate Agreement. The U.S. rejoined the agreement on President Biden’s first day in office. The White House briefed stakeholders on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, on the shift in position and were met with mixed reviews. Criticism from industry groups flooded in, like that from the American Chemistry Council who said the shift showed a “willingness to betray U.S. manufacturing and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it supports”. On the other hand, support was shown overwhelmingly by environmental groups such as Greenpeace who called the shift a “watershed moment in the fight against plastic pollution” and “a welcome signal that they are finally listening to the demands of the American people”.
Sources:
https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/historic-day-campaign-beat-plastic-pollution-nations-commit-develop
https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-officially-rejoins-the-paris-agreement/
https://www.unep.org/inc-plastic-pollution
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/shift-us-backs-global-target-reduce-plastic-production-source-says-2024-08-14/
Photo by Naja Bertolt Jensen on Unsplash
