Africa: What are the challenges of the Global Convention against Plastic Pollution?

The planet succeeds in capturing disposable plastic. At the end of it1^Er In March 2022 in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEA) approved a resolution establishing the Intergovernmental Panel on Negotiations (INC) to draft an international agreement to combat plastic pollution. The agreement, which covers the entire life cycle, including the production, use and disposal of plastics, will come into effect from 2024.

Over the next two years, the CIN will also reflect the need for enhanced international cooperation in design and technologies for reusable and recyclable materials, capacity building and facilitating access to scientific and technological cooperation. So it would be a question of dealing with the entire plastic supply chain to come up with a definitive text on marine and land pollution.

According to the France-based Plastics Europe Professional Association, the implementation of a new approach to pollution and waste treatment can solve the global problem of plastic pollution if the government takes action in line with their local environment. Increasingly vulnerable.

A dangerous situation

According to the British magazine New Scientist, the world produced 381 million tons of plastic in 2015, most of which came from developing countries and ended up in the oceans due to a lack of recycling mechanisms. According to the same source, plastic production exploded from 2 million tonnes in 1950 to 460 million tonnes in 2019, of which less than 10% is currently recycled and 22% is abandoned in the wild and burned or dumped in the open. Environment.

Today, the production and use of plastics is having a long-term impact on the three-planet crisis, climate change, biodiversity and pollution that threaten the world. Health experts point out that plastic can be harmful to human health, affecting fertility, hormones, metabolism and neurological functions. Also, burning plastic materials in the open causes air pollution. In this context, as part of the goal of controlling global warming to 1.5 ° C, by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions related to the production, use and disposal of plastics will be 15% of permissible emissions.

According to Espan Barth et al^And The resolution, adopted by the UN and the Norwegian Minister for Climate and Environment, is being considered on the basis of a number of fifteen issues, including improving sustainable plastic production and consumption and improving the environmental design of products, environmental waste management and circulars. Economy.

Concrete activities

“About 11 million tons of plastic waste is dumped into the oceans each year, and more than 800 marine and coastal creatures suffer from ingestion, entanglement and other hazards. For example, moving to a circular economy could reduce the amount of plastic entering the oceans by more than 80% by 2040, reduce virgin plastic production by 55%, save governments $ 70 billion by 2040, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25%. It creates 700,000 additional jobs, mainly in developing countries“The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said.

Also read-Africa: States are urged to decide on a global agreement on plastics

For Inger Anderson, Director-General of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), this is the most important multilateral environmental agreement since the 2015 Paris Agreement.Insurance policy for this generation and the next generation who can live without being condemned by plastic. With the negotiations for a binding international agreement, UNEP will work with governments and businesses interested in the supply chain to move away from single-use plastics, raise private funds, remove barriers to research and investment in a new circle of economies.“, She explains.

Benoit Ivan Vance