News:
Aotearoa New Zealand is joining the international community working to put an end to plastic pollution, at treaty negotiations in Paris.
On average each New Zealander sends nearly 60 kilograms of plastic to landfill every year. On a per-capita basis, Aotearoa New Zealand is one of the most wasteful nations in the world.
Pollution is not confined by international borders. Global problems, like plastic pollution, need global solutions.
In March 2022, 193 nations endorsed a historic decision to negotiate an international legally-binding agreement to end plastic pollution by the end of 2024.
The second round of negotiations will take place in Paris from 29 May to 2 June. Aotearoa New Zealand hopes for substantive progress during this negotiation round to ensure we have a draft text prior to the third round of negotiations, which will take place in late 2023.
While we in Aotearoa New Zealand have a significant programme of work underway to address plastic waste including through our National Plastics Action Plan, it’s important we work to end plastic pollution on a global scale.
We’re calling for the treaty to focus on reducing waste in the first place, and establishing a more circular, low carbon economy.
New Zealand is calling for the treaty to address problems caused by plastics across their entire lifespan, and prioritise the waste hierarchy and circular economy principles.
We must also acknowledge the importance of reducing plastic waste and eliminating plastic pollution to indigenous peoples, and facilitate indigenous perspectives into our discussions. We must also recognise the role that traditional knowledge plays in the sustainable management and protection of the environment.
Aotearoa New Zealand has joined the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution (HAC EPP)(external link) alongside Australia, Canada, Norway, and the UK among others, committed to a common ambition to end plastic pollution by 2040. The Coalition is calling for the final treaty to include provisions that will reduce the production of certain plastics, and manage the use and waste of plastics in an environmentally sound way.