This study aims to model scenarios for how the global economy might respond to the proposed “40x40” target in the context of negotiations for a new International Legally Binding Instrument (ILBI) to end plastic pollution.
For the fifth (and potentially final) round of the global plastics treaty negotiations (INC-5), expectations are high, in particular in consummating an agreement on an instrument capable of ending plastic pollution and reducing harm across the entire plastics lifecycle.
As the plastics pollution crisis continues to grow by the day, so does the case for a global plastics treaty that tackles the issue head-on and seeks to reduce the production of virgin plastics.
In the (potential) final year of negotiations for a new international legally binding instrument (ILBI) to end plastic pollution, negotiators will meet for its fourth session in Ottawa, Canada from 23-29 April.
The growing momentum to address plastic pollution through global governance has seen the emergence of new international regulations on the management of plastic waste under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (“Basel Convention” or “the Convention”).
In March 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) adopted resolution 5/14 titled “End Plastic Pollution: Towards an International Legally Binding Instrument.” The resolution convenes an intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) to develop a new global agreement combatting plastic pollution, otherwise referred to as the global plastics treaty (GPT).