IUCN members call for a global agreement on plastic pollution

A resolution calling for the world community to agree on a global agreement to address plastic pollution was adopted by The International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, World Congress today, achieving almost unanimous support in the electronic vote set up in the absence of a physical congress in 2020.

“It is becoming increasingly evident that the world urgently needs a binding global treaty that sets clear plastic pollution reduction targets and restores accountability”

“The IUCN vote sends a strong signal to the world leaders to start the development of an international binding treaty to stop the plastic pollution crisis. It is yet another signal that the support for a global treaty is rapidly growing and that UN member states should start developing such a treaty as a matter of urgency” said Eirik Lindebjerg, Global Plastics Policy Manager at WWF International.

The vote comes the week before the UN Environment Programme convenes its final global expert group meeting on the topic, where a majority of written submissions from member states underline the need for a new global agreement.

Almost two million people signed the petition calling for the global treaty on marine plastic pollution.

Single-use plastic waste on the beach in Greece.