Paris, July 14 (PTI): India and France said on Friday they will constructively engage other like-minded countries to strengthen negotiations on an international legally binding instrument to end Plastic pollution.
Following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron here, the two countries have made a joint commitment to eliminate pollution from single-use plastic products, including a ban on single-use plastic products that have little use and a high have wandering potential.
India and France noted that the pollution of plastic products due to litter and mismanaged plastic waste is a global environmental problem that needs to be addressed urgently, and said it has negative impacts on ecosystems in general and marine ecosystems in particular.
Single-use plastic products are defined by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as “an umbrella term for various types of products that are typically used once before being discarded or recycled”, including food packaging, bottles, straws, containers, cups, cutlery and shopping bags.
In a joint document declaring a commitment to eliminate pollution from single-use plastic products, the two countries say progress has been made to address plastic pollution on a global scale.
Notable actions include the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, amendments to the Annexes to the Basel Convention to address the issue of transboundary movement of plastic waste, the Marine Litter Action Plans under the Regional Sea Conventions and the International Marine Organization (IMO) Action Plan for Marine Litter from Ships,” the document said.
A series of UNEA resolutions since 2014 have also addressed the challenge and in 2017 UNEA3 set up an ad hoc open expert group on marine litter3 to identify possible solutions.
It completed its work on November 13, 2020, describing several response options, including the development of “definitions of unnecessary and avoidable use of plastics, including single-use plastics”.
It is therefore necessary to specifically reduce our consumption of single-use plastic products and consider alternative solutions, the two sides said.
In March 2019, the 4th United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-4) adopted a resolution on “Addressing pollution from single-use plastic products”, which “encourages Member States to take action where appropriate to promote the identification and development of environmentally sound alternatives for single-use plastic products, taking into account the full lifecycle implications of those alternatives,” the document said.
The two countries said single-use plastic products, with low utility and high littering potential, should be phased out and replaced with reusable products based on a circular economy approach.
Solutions exist and have been clearly identified and addressing this problem can open up new opportunities for innovation, competitiveness and job creation, they said.
India and France said solutions include a ban on identified single-use plastic items where alternatives are readily available and affordable; extended producer responsibility (EPR), so that producers are responsible for environmentally sound waste management; promote reuse, prescribe minimum level for recycling of plastic packaging waste, use of recycled plastic content; Checking/monitoring compliance with the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR); Incentives to help manufacturers design alternatives to single-use plastics; labeling requirements specifying how waste should be disposed of; and awareness measures.
France and India renewed their commitment to phase out and phase out the consumption and production of certain single-use plastic products, citing several steps they have taken to reduce plastic pollution. PTI ASK/SKU ZH AKJ ZH ZH
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