My thanks to U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Agriculture, and organizing partners, for the invitation to speak at the close of this event to galvanize global action on plastic pollution.
Today, I understand there has been a discussion on practical solutions to plastic pollution. Practical solutions that can inform the global agreement to end plastic pollution under negotiation. Solutions that can help make the agreement a success. And this agreement must succeed, if we are to protect ecosystems, species, and people from plastic pollution.
So what is success?
Success is re-designing to reduce overall plastic in products. This could be through deliquefying products or changing the way we package.
Success is making it easier to repair, reuse, refill and recycle so that circularity becomes possible.
Success is incentivizing to make recycled polymers cheaper than virgin plastics.
Success is backing research and development on sustainable alternatives to plastics.
Success is building waste management infrastructure that can cope with the load.
Success is creating new jobs, new markets and new business opportunities.
Success is a just transition that ensures everyone – including waste-pickers, indigenous people and vulnerable communities have decent jobs and a safe, healthy environment.
Success is a legally binding instrument that shows solidarity. That provides financial resources for the global south. That deals with the legacy of plastic that washes up on the shores of countries every minute, across the world.
This is a global undertaking; one that requires every sector of society.
This success depends on member states – the ones who will agree on obligations, control measures and voluntary approaches that address the full life cycle of plastics.
Every nation must get behind a strong, specific deal and ratify it quickly once it is signed. The full participation of the U.S. will, of course, be crucial.
I was very pleased to see the new EPA draft strategy on plastic pollution, which has three objectives. To reduce pollution during plastic production. To improve post-use materials management. To prevent trash and micro/nanoplastics from entering waterways. This is great and equally important that we make this both – a top down and bottom-up approach. And it is great to see that such action can be bipartisan, as we saw through the Save Our Seas 2.0 act.
I appreciate the U.S.’s support to UNEP over the years. And I am encouraged by our partnership to increase the ability of nations to take actions to reduce plastic pollution through legal frameworks and strategic planning. I am also extremely grateful for financial support from the United States in support of the negotiations underway.
Success also depends on throwing the doors wide open: to the private sector, to civil society, to scientists, to indigenous peoples, to the informal sector, to youth and consumer-based organizations.
The negotiation process must hear from all sides, or the deal will be hamstrung from the very beginning.
On the private sector, it obviously isn’t as simple as just asking companies to stop with the plastics already. This deal must create an environment that makes it easier for businesses to move away from models that cause plastic pollution. This is why the private sector must input into the negotiations, as it has been doing through the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty. The private sector must tell negotiators what they need to see in the deal to help them shift their businesses.
Equally, the private sector shouldn’t just sit on the fence. I have been saying, and will keep saying, that companies must innovate now. Start to redesign now. Redesign products and packaging to use less plastic. Redesign products for reuse. Redesign products for recycling. Companies who task their chemists, product designers and engineers with finding new models, now, will reap the early-mover advantage.
Here, I want to send a specific message to the petrochemicals and fossil fuel industry. In a recent opinion piece for Fortune, Paul Polman wrote, “Predictably, some companies are lobbying hard to undermine the talks, led by petrochemicals and fossil fuels. It’s no secret that, as our societies embrace renewable energy more wholeheartedly, many in fossil fuels see the fast-growing plastics sector as a lifeboat.”
Plastics may seem like a lifeboat, for the moment. But this lifeboat is not seaworthy; it will capsize under a wave of change once the agreement is in place. Don’t jump ship from fossil fuels to plastic. Instead, steer the ship in another direction and let the wave of change carry you towards a future free of plastic pollution and fossil fuels.
And the voices of all other groups matter: civil society, scientists, activists, indigenous peoples, community groups. You have insights. Visions. Dreams of a better life, particularly those engaged in waste-picking. You are being heard. But do not be afraid to shout louder. Drive ambition in negotiations by providing science and insights. Give voice to affected communities and demand a just transition and better jobs. Hold accountable those most responsible for change.
Friends,
Ending plastic pollution will bring a massive pay-off: for human and ecosystem health, for the climate, for economies, for vulnerable communities and for those businesses smart enough to get ahead of the game.
To deliver on this pay-off, everybody must get behind the agreement and take pre-emptive action so that it can reach its full potential in years, not decades.
Thank you.
