The G20 major economies yesterday said they agreed to a deal to reduce plastic waste that is choking the seas at a meeting in Japan.
Under the agreement, G20 member countries committed to reducing plastic waste, but gave little detail on how that would be done. They added that the steps would be voluntary and progress would be reported once a year, local media reported.
Japan hopes to hold the first meeting in November, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.
Photo: AFP
“It is great that we were able to make rules for all, including emerging and developing countries,” Japanese Minister of the Environment Yoshiaki Harada said after the two-day meeting of the G20 environment and energy ministers.
Plastic pollution has become a global concern. Microplastics — tiny pieces of degraded waste — have attracted particular attention. They absorb harmful chemicals, accumulating inside fish, birds and other animals, and are difficult to collect once in the water.
The framework agreed at the Karuizawa meeting would be the first to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean involving not only rich nations, but emerging economies as well.
The deal would be “the first step” to tackling plastic waste, but “it is insufficient to rely on countries’ voluntary actions” to resolve the crisis, Hiroaki Odachi of Greenpeace Japan said in a statement.
“G20 countries should clearly announce that they will prioritize reducing generation of single-use plastics” along with recycling and reusing materials, Odachi said.
“Legally binding international rules with clear timelines and goals” are needed, he added.
Only an estimated 9 percent of plastics ever produced are recycled and campaigners say the only long-term solution to the plastic waste crisis is for companies to make less and consumers to use less.
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