Science publication: "A binding global agreement to address the life cycle of plastics"

[Per-Olof Busch]

Dear all,

I would like to draw your attention to new publication on a possible global agreement on plastic pollution, which was published in Science and adds to the ongoing debate about possible negotiations on such an agreement that might start soon: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/373/6550/43

Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in the full text.

Best regards, Per-Olof Busch

Summary: Amid the global plastic pollution crisis, a growing number of governments and nongovernmental actors are proposing a new global treaty. In February 2021, at the fifth meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA)—the world's highest-level decision-making body on the environment—many governments spoke in favor of an international agreement to combat plastic pollution. In the past, the international community tended to view the plastics problem from a predominantly ocean-focused and waste-centered perspective. However, plastics are increasingly found in all environmental media, including terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere, as well as human matrices, including lungs and placenta. We therefore argue for a new international legally binding agreement that addresses the entire life cycle of plastics, from extraction of raw materials to legacy plastic pollution. Only by taking this approach can efforts match the magnitude and transboundary nature of this escalating problem and its social, environmental, and economic impacts. Targeting the full life cycle of plastics allows for a more equitable distribution of the costs and benefits of relevant actions across the global value chain.

Per-Olof Busch

Senior Researcher at adelphi

Mail:      bu...@adelphi.de
Web:     https://www.adelphi.de

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