Upcoming global negotiations on a legally binding plastic pollution treaty

Between November 28-December 2, Canadian officials will be in Uruguay to participate in global negotiations on a legally binding plastic pollution treaty. The negotiations will be led by the United Nations Environment Programme with the goal of developing a treaty that includes a framework to end plastic pollution by 2040. The framework is intended to look at the full plastics lifecycle from production and consumption to disposal and waste management. The UN is looking at driving negotiations towards an international commitment on plastics, an approach that is similar to the Conference of the Parties (COP) which led to countries committing to a target of keeping the temperature change to well below 2 degrees at COP21 in Paris.

Furthermore, Canada is part of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, along with 30+ like-minded countries including France, Germany and the UK, who are committed to developing an ambitious international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution by 2040. Notably absent from this group is the United States who are seeking to keep plastics efforts focused on individual countries.

On November 16, RCC will be participating in an Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) consultation on this issue. This will serve as an opportunity to share comments that can help inform Canada’s voice on the global stage towards the development of a new international legally binding treaty on plastic pollution. RCC would support an international treaty so long as major trading partners, namely the United States, are on board and aligned.

RCC will be monitoring the global negotiations and activities undertaken by the Coalition to ensure members remain informed.