Europe

UN Agrees to Draft Treaty on Plastic Waste

AUG 4 2022·Updated JAN 23 2023

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The Facts

Representatives from 175 countries have agreed during a UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, to create a legally binding treaty on plastics.
The Guardian
Aimed to be developed and ratified by 2024, the accord has approval of plastic-producing nations such as the US and China, hoping to bind targets with monitoring mechanisms, national plans and the ability to finance poorer countries.
CBS News
The UNEA has called the proposed treaty a 'landmark agreement', with plastic production set to double from 400M to 800M tons a year by 2040 at its current rate.
Independent
The first round of negotiations on the specifics of the treaty are expected in the second half of 2022.
Daily Mail
It's estimated 11M tons of plastic enters the ocean every year, impacting at least 800 marine and coastal species.
Newsweek

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Global waterways are reaching their plastic saturation point and are in outright ecological collapse. Unfortunately, cleaning the oceans is very difficult and expensive. This treaty would instead prevent plastic pollution in the first place. We need to move to zero emissions, zero pollution on the plastics front asap.

PHYS

Narrative B

While the new plastic agreement is admirable, nothing will change until the corporate world gets on board. Right now, corporations are far behind global climate goals and some have even gone backwards since the 2015 Paris Agreement. This is a worrying sign for the future regardless of this new potential treaty.

One America

Narrative C

With the task of collecting and recycling plastic often falling to individuals, the agreement in Nairobi is finally a recognition of informal waste pickers and their importance in the plastics economy and the future of the world.