Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of the Environment, Sir Molwyn Joseph has
proposed an eight-point strategy that he envisions will reinforce the commitment
and accelerate the drive to end plastic pollution across the globe by 2040.
Sir Molwyn was at the time delivering an address to the High Ambition Coalition
to End Plastic Pollution Ministerial Meeting, taking place ahead of the second
session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an
international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including the marine
environment (INC2) that will take place from 29 May to 2 June 2023 at the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
headquarters in Paris.
The coalition, led by Rwanda and Norway was launched in early 2022 and brings
together over 50 countries unified around the common goal of ending plastic
pollution.
Vulnerable countries, like Antigua and Barbuda, are negatively impacted by this
significant environmental threat despite contributing very little to it. “Given our
vulnerabilities to environmental threats, and distinct geographical circumstances,
plastic pollution puts an added strain on our limited waste management capacity,”
Sir Molwyn told his ministerial colleagues at the briefing event.
Against this backdrop, he urged the meeting to aim for the highest possible
ambition in striving to eliminate plastic pollution. His eight-point proposal calls
for, among other things, ‘closing the tap by addressing unsustainable sourcing and
extraction of raw materials to make plastics.”
“…We need to work towards the progressive elimination of the problematic
polymers, chemicals, and additives which pose risks to human health and the
environment,” another issue Sir Molwyn’s eight-point plan addressed. He stressed,
“States must progressively work towards a globally harmonized system for
labeling products, particularly including the disclosure of their contents.”
The coalition is seeking to craft a legally binding global treaty that will “establish
common global rules, turn off the plastic tap and end plastic pollution by 2040.”
Sir Molwyn however noted, that while this remains the primary objective of their
overall effort, he expects them to remain assertive in their calls for effective and
robust provisions, to ensure the participation and implementation by developing
countries and SIDS.
Antigua and Barbuda was the first Caribbean island to ban the use of single-use
plastic bags in 2016 and has continued to lead in its efforts to end plastic pollution,
both nationally and through international coordination at the United Nations and
other global efforts.
