World leaders aim to take major step toward tackling plastic pollution

If we continue with business as usual, the rate of plastic pollution entering the world’s oceans will triple by 2040. Turning off this tap of plastic waste will be no simple task, but a planet with no plastic in nature is possible. And a global treaty on plastic pollution set to reach an agreement by the end of 2024 puts this potential future well within our reach.

In March 2022, the UN came to a historic agreement to negotiate a global treaty that addresses plastic pollution. Not only did this decision initiate the process to develop the first-ever international framework on plastic pollution, but the signing countries agreed to draft the treaty on an accelerated timeline, reinforcing the urgency and importance of bringing global coordination to this crisis.

Later this month, WWF will join world leaders and other key stakeholders in Paris, France, for the second of five United Nations-hosted meetings to negotiate the treaty.

This meeting will be the first time negotiators start mapping out the basis for the treaty’s framework before the first draft is started later this year. It will be a crucial moment for WWF to advocate for what the treaty should address and determine whether we are able to deliver a transformative treaty by the end of 2024.

WWF is advocating for a global treaty that targets the plastics that are either most prone to leakage into the environment or that cause the most harm once leaked, such as single-use plastic, fishing gear, and microplastics. Equally important, WWF is calling for the treaty negotiation process to remain open, transparent, and inclusive for all stakeholders and people affected by the impacts of plastic waste.