The Global Commitment provides a well-established framework with a common vision shared by more than 1000 organisations (including the organisations involved in the Plastic Pact Network and the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative). It offers governments the opportunity to signal alignment behind a vision for a circular economy for plastics, gather data and report progress related to plastic pollution, while allowing for different approaches to be tested addressing the full life cycle of plastics.
More than 500 signatories from around the world made commitments by 2025 to eliminate problematic or unnecessary plastics packaging/products. They have also committed to making plastic packaging recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025.
Signing the Global Commitment requires defining its own commitments as well as reporting on them annually.
18
National governments committed in the Global Commitment.
Including eight new during the One Ocean Summit : Canada, Colombia, Greece, Italy, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Spain and Uganda.
The resumed 5th session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2) that took place in Nairobi from 28 February to 2 March 2022 adopted a landmark resolution to End Plastic Pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024.
Paragraph 15 of the adopted resolution "calls upon all Member States to continue and step up activities and adopt voluntary measures to combat plastic pollution, including measures related to sustainable consumption and production, which may include circular economy approaches".
More importantly, its elements can inform the negotiations on a future legally binding instrument e.g. "to specify national reporting" and "to assess the progress of implementation" as indicated in the resolution. By engaging early in the process, governments can identify priority areas to reduce plastic pollution effectively and get prepared to meet future obligations under a global plastics instrument.
We will not recycle our way out of the plastic pollution crisis: we need a systemic transformation to achieve the transition to a circular economy
For further information:
Website of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Read the reports