Germany Joins International Coalition To Tackle Plastic Pollution

Germany has joined the international High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution by 2040 that was launched on Monday, August 22, 2022.

Agreement had already been reached in Nairobi in March on starting negotiations on an internationally binding instrument to end plastic pollution.

A group of like-minded countries has now launched a High Ambition Coalition to drive forward implementation of Resolution 5/14 “End Plastic Pollution: Towards an International Legally Binding Instrument”.

As announced at UNEA5.2, Norway and Rwanda will jointly chair the coalition.

Plastic pollution has reached unprecedented levels worldwide. Without concerted, global measures and an internationally binding framework in the coming decades, these levels are projected to rise significantly.

The plastic volumes found in rivers and lakes are expected to more than triple between 2019 and 2060 (from 109 to 348 million tonnes).

The volumes in oceans in the same period could increase fivefold (from 30 to 145 million).

Therefore, the international business community is calling for targets, standards and norms for the entire life cycle of plastics in order to establish the same conditions and requirements for the development of new circular economy business models and to make circular economy a reality in practice.