While plastic production has grown exponentially in recent decades, recognition of plastic pollution as a global problem has more recently been increasing steadily. Plastic pollution kills ocean wildlife, causes billions of dollars of damage to coastal areas, and becomes microplastics, which have found their way into every food chain. Fighting plastic pollution has been a priority in several international efforts and marine plastic pollution has been raised as an issue consistently. The G7 Ocean Plastic Charter, the G20 Osaka Summit in 2019, UN Environment’s Global Partnership on Marine Litter, and the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (Basel Convention) are some recent examples of attempting to address this growing issue. Although the United States has been involved in these efforts, specifically in signing the Basel Convention in 1990, we have yet to ratify any international effort.
In March of this year, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi, Kenya, heads of state, environment ministers, and representatives met to negotiate an international legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution by the end of 2024. The UNEA is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment. Membership consists of all 193 United Nations Member states, including the United States. On March 2, 2022, 175 countries agreed to UNEA 5.2 Resolution: “End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument.” United Nations Environment Assembly Res 5.2 (Mar. 2, 2022). Prior to the Nairobi meeting, the United States announced on November 18, 2021, its support for the multilateral negotiations on a global agreement to combat ocean plastic pollution and engaged as a stakeholder leading up to UNEA 5.2 Resolution. Remarks from Secretary Anthony J. Blinken at an Ocean Plastics Event (Nov. 18, 2021) (on file with U.S. Dep’t of State, Office of the Spokesperson).
This resolution has a scope that covers “plastic pollution, including in the marine environment” and recognizes microplastics to be included in the definition of plastic pollution. U.N.E.A. Res 5.2. Further, the resolution aims to create an intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) beginning in the second half of 2022 and concluding by the end of 2024. Id. The goal of the Resolution is to produce a legally binding treaty on the production, design, and disposal of plastics by 2024. Id. The executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has referred to the agreement as the most important international multilateral environmental deal since the Paris climate accord. Press Release, United Nations Environment Programme, Historic day in the campaign to beat plastic pollution: Nations commit to develop a legally binding agreement (Mar. 2, 2022).
Even though the United States has signed onto UNEA 5.2 Resolution, this does not mean that it will be ratified. The aforementioned Basel Convention is proof of this possibility. The United States signed onto the Basel Convention in 1990 but still has not ratified the convention due to lack of authority to implement all of the provisions. However, the United States has entered into arrangements and agreements under Article 11 of the Basel Convention. Article 11 agreements or arrangements permit parties of the Basel Convention to trade in waste and scrap covered by the Convention with non-parties. Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Malaysia, and the Philippines all have Article 11 agreements addressing the import of hazardous waste into the United States from the respective countries.
It is foreseeable that the legally binding instrument developed by the INC under UNEA 5.2 Resolution might also have provisions that the United States government does not have authority to implement, thereby preventing its ratification. However, it is too soon to tell so we will continue to watch, monitor, and report on further developments.
