The United Nations approved a landmark agreement to create the first-ever global plastic pollution treaty on Wednesday in what is being described as the most significant environmental deal since the 2015 Paris climate accord.
Talks were held in Nairobi for more than a week between member states, who worked together to agree upon an outline of a pact to significantly decrease the soaring plastic pollution.
Plastic has become an enormous environmental crisis that extends from the bottom of the ocean to the tops of mountains.
The resolution was adopted to create a legally binding plastic pollution treaty and is expected to be finalized in 2024. When the resolution was adopted, government officials broke into cheers, punching the air in celebration.
President of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) Espen Barth Eide said that history was made and that everyone involved should be proud. Eide said plastic pollution has grown into a global endemic. This resolution, he added, means the world could be on track for a cure, finally.
UNEA called the resolution the most significant environmental deal since the Paris accord was signed. It is currently written in broad strokes. An intergovernmental committee now is tasked with negotiating a deal.
The deal will have effects on economies and businesses worldwide. Major plastic-producing countries, including the United States, will be definitely affected.
Disagreements still remain over what will be included in the final pact, with some divided between the most ambitious states wanting to find a solution, and some states not wanting to find a solution whatsoever.
Public support for a treaty on plastic pollution is overwhelmingly in support according to polls. The UN Climate Conference summit COP, held last in November in Glasgow, reminded the world how dire the climate situation is and the environmental realities of this. So too did a recent report, released this week by the IPCC, about the dire state of climate change.
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