Meeting of the special group of experts formed by UN Environment
From 3 to 7 December 2018, the second meeting of the special group of experts formed back in December 2017 was held by UN Environment with the aim of effectively protecting the marine environment from plastic and microplastic pollution. Over 300 people, members of numerous governments, representatives of regional and international conventions, the private sector and NGOs from right around the world, were brought together to reflect on concrete recommendations to solve legal, financial and technological obstacles in a bid to combat this pollution
Over the first two days, smaller working groups were formed to consider possible options in terms of governance, information and monitoring in a more spontaneous and less formal manner. Reporting back to the plenary in the last three days enabled these considerations to be further honed with the intervention of several experts, the presentation of some proposals as well as testimonies from several countries about their own challenges and any successes they have had when applying certain measures.
The final recommendations will be submitted at the next Meeting of the UN Environment, which is scheduled to take place in March 2019. It’s a meeting that gathers together the United Nations’ 193 Member States and today it the highest political forum regarding environmental matters.
The pillars of action identified in the proposal written by the Center for International Law, the Environment Investigation Agency, Massey University and the Center for Ocean Awareness Research and Education
As a result, the Race for Water Foundation, accredited to the UN Environment programme, was invited to participate as an NGO. In this way, Camille Rollin, Project Manager of the Race for Water’s Act Programme, was able to take part in the debates.
“This type of seminar was a first for me. It was not an easy exercise getting 300 people, each with their own interests and sometimes at odds with one another, to consider how to resolve a global crisis, the responsibilities for which are so divided. Even though discussions remained overly conceptual at times to my mind, it is reassuring to see that the problem of plastic and marine microplastic waste is one of the priorities on the decision makers’ agenda. A multitude of actions have already been carried out regarding marine plastic and microplastic waste, and there are already international and regional governance tools in existence. They could initially be reinforced by taking into account the specific features of plastic as a product and as waste. However, an effective response to this major problem would require a dedicated international agreement that is legally binding. And it is on this point where opinion differed most between the various protagonists. Let’s hope that it won’t take decades before this agreement is signed.”
More information tio read in both reports #BreakFreeFromPlastic