Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUNEP / PLASTIC POLLUTION AGREEMENT
STORY: UNEP / PLASTIC POLLUTION AGREEMENT
TRT: 02:14
SOURCE: UNEP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 2 MARCH 2022, NAIROBI, KENYA
2 MARCH 2022, NAIROBI, KENYA
1. Various shots, United Nations compound
2. Various shots of plastic art exhibition at the entrance to UN compound
3. Various shots, main conference room during closing session
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Espen Barth Eide, President of UNEA and Minister of Climate and Environment of Norway:
"May I take it that the assembly wishes to adopt this draft resolution? I see no pictures. It is so decided."
5. Various shots, crowd cheering, hugging, clapping
6. Closeup, UNEA President gavels the global agreement on Plastic Pollution
SOUNDBITE (English) Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations:
"What there is now clarity on is that we will have a strong global, international and comprehensive framework on plastic pollution."
7. Various shots, plastic waste, pollution and clean up
8. SOUNDBITE (English), Keriako Tobiko, Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Environment and Forestry:
"We need collective action to develop viable and sustainable substitutes for plastics."
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Amina J. Mohammed is the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations:
"Progress on a legally blinding global agreement on the plastic pollution is a truly welcomed first step to implementation and it will make a difference. One that shows again the true value of multilateralism."
10. Various shots, crowd at UNEA5.2, including Member States, civil society and other stakeholders cheer and show high emotion at the agreement
11. Various shots, UN Environment Assembly
Closing the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) in Nairobi, Kenya, on Wednesday, 175 nations endorsed a historic resolution to End Plastic Pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024.
With the document, Heads of State, Ministers of environment and other representatives are looking to address the full life cycle of plastic, including its production, design and disposal.
For Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the decision means there will be "a strong global, international and comprehensive framework on plastic pollution."
According to her, the world produces around 400 million tonnes of plastic every year and 300 million tonnes of that goes right into the waste dump and 11 million tonnes into the oceans.
Amina J. Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, welcomed the "progress on a legally blinding global agreement", saying it will "make a difference" and show "the true value of multilateralism."
Plastic production soared from 2 million tonnes in 1950 to 348 million tonnes in 2017, becoming a global industry valued at US$522.6 billion, and it is expected to double in capacity by 2040. The impacts of plastic production and pollution on the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss and pollution are a catastrophe in the making.
The historic resolution was adopted with the conclusion of the three-day UNEA-5.2 meeting, attended by more than 3,400 in-person and 1,500 online participants from 175 UN Member States, including 79 ministers and 17 high-level officials.
The resolution, based on three initial draft resolutions from various nations, establishes an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), which will begin its work in 2022, with the ambition of completing a draft global legally binding agreement by the end of 2024.
It is expected to present a legally binding instrument, which would reflect diverse alternatives to address the full life cycle of plastics, the design of reusable and recyclable products and materials, and the need for enhanced international collaboration to facilitate access to technology, capacity building and scientific and technical cooperation.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) will convene a forum by the end of 2022 that is open to all stakeholders in conjunction with the first session of the INC, to share knowledge and best practices in different parts of the world.
The agency will also facilitate open discussions and ensure they are informed by science, reporting on progress throughout the next two years.
Finally, upon completion of the INC’s work, UNEP will convene a diplomatic conference to adopt its outcome and open it for signatures.
