How can the global plastics economy be transformed to reduce plastic pollution and support progress on international climate goals? What kinds of global governance are needed to advance these efforts?

The Global Governance Centre at the Graduate Institute Geneva and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) invite you to join an online public conference on the Global Governance of Plastic Pollution: Transforming the Global Plastics Economy on 30 and 31 August 2021, from 13:00-18:00 CEST.

Over 100 countries are calling for the launch of UN negotiations for a new global treaty on plastic pollution in 2022. Spurred by alarm about the scale and impacts of marine plastic pollution, advocates of stronger international cooperation are calling for approaches that address environmental and health impacts across the entire life-cycle of plastics, including air pollution, climate impacts and plastic pollution on land, as well as the economic burden on developing countries struggling to manage a rising tide of plastic pollution and waste. Meanwhile, however, investment in new carbon-intensive plastic production continues to rise.

The starting point for this conference is that efforts to improve global governance of plastic pollution must look ‘upstream’ to tackle the strong economic and political forces driving the expanding global plastics economy and associated pollution; and to address these in a way that enables a just and sustainable transition, with particular attention to the challenges facing developing countries.