Break Free From Plastic members respond to sixth UN Environment Assembly meeting, calling for governments to push for an ambitious Global Plastics Treaty in preparation for the fourth round of negotiations that will take place in late April

March 1st, 2024, Nairobi - Today concluded the sixth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA 6), bringing representatives from 193 countries to Nairobi, Kenya, to consider proposals for “Effective, inclusive and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.” After a week of discussions, #BreakFreeFromPlastic members on the ground continued calling for governments to push for an ambitious Global Plastics Treaty in preparation for the fourth round of negotiations that will take place in Ottawa, Canada, in late April.

Amid concern over attempts to limit the mandate of the plastics treaty during the week, Hellen Kahaso Dena, Project Lead of the Pan-Africa Plastics Project at Greenpeace Africa, said, "A few countries are attempting to water down the already agreed language on ending plastic pollution by 2040, reducing ambition on all fronts, and denying the link between chemicals and the climate crisis. We strongly urge member states not to undermine the mandate of the Global Plastics Treaty, and show courage and ambition as we continue the negotiations in Ottawa next month." –Read Greenpeace's full statement here.

David Azoulay, Director of the Center for International Environmental Law’s Environmental Health program, responded, “we welcome the renewed commitment to engage constructively in the ongoing negotiation of an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. Unsurprisingly, the same Member States who have worked to derail and obstruct the plastics treaty negotiations resort to a backdoor effort to attempt to renegotiate the INC’s mandate. While this declaration has no legal bearing on the mandate for the INC’s work, reaffirming the mandate at UNEA-6 is a valuable political statement in the face of continued bad-faith engagement by the United States and petrostates who are trying every means to limit the ambition of the future treaty. Governments need to respect their previous commitments and listen to the independent scientists and communities around the world who are demanding ambitious action. They must right the ship ahead of INC-4 to ensure the negotiations in Ottawa do not end in failure.” CIEL's statement is also available here.

Additional BFFP's statements will be added as they become available.

About Break Free From Plastic –  #BreakFreeFromPlastic is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Since its launch in 2016, more than 2,000 organizations and 11,000 individual supporters from across the world have joined the movement to demand massive reductions in single-use plastics and push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. BFFP member organizations and individuals share the shared values of environmental protection and social justice and work together through a holistic approach to bring about systemic change. This means tackling plastic pollution across the whole plastics value chain—from extraction to disposal—focusing on prevention rather than cure and providing effective solutions.