The resolution on ending plastic pollution (Draft) was adopted at the resumed session of the fifth United Nations Environment Conference in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, on the 2nd. This legally binding resolution aims to promote the global governance of plastic pollution.

According to the information provided by UNEP to the media after the meeting, heads of state, environment ministers and other representatives from 175 countries approved and signed the resolution. The resolution points out that an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee will be established to reach an internationally legally binding agreement by 2024, covering the entire life cycle of plastic products, including their production, design, recycling and treatment.

This is the scene of the opening ceremony of the resumed session of the fifth United Nations Environment Conference, photographed in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, on February 28. (photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter dongjianghui)

The United Nations Environment Programme said that the resolution would promote the parties concerned to fundamentally change the way they produce, consume and manage plastic waste. "Today we have made history, and all of us should be proud of it." The president of the general assembly and Norwegian environment minister ESPEN Barth Eide said.

According to the statistics of the Department, the world plastic production soared from 2million tons in 1950 to 348 million tons in 2017. Ed said that if no immediate action is taken, the harm of plastic pollution will further expand and threaten human survival. "If plastic is brought into the circular economy system, it can be recycled. It is time to issue a legally binding resolution to end the plastic pollution crisis."

Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, said that the resolution was the most important international multilateral environmental resolution since the Paris Agreement.

The United Nations Environment assembly is the highest decision-making mechanism for global environmental issues. Its predecessor is the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme. In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to upgrade the Council to the United Nations Environment assembly attended by representatives of Member States. The first United Nations Environment Conference was held in Nairobi in June 2014.

The first phase of the fifth United Nations Environment Conference was held in February, 2021, and the resumed session from February 28 to March 2, 2022 is the second phase.