‘We Are Choking on Plastic’, Secretary-General Tells Intergovernmental Committee, Calling for Ambitious Agreement to End Plastic Pollution

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the ministerial breakfast of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on plastic pollution, in Cali, Colombia, today:

We are here today as we enter the last stretch of a crucial negotiation.  Next month, Member States will meet in Busan, Republic of Korea, to negotiate a multilateral solution to end plastic pollution.  A solution that is vital for people, planet and prosperity alike.

My thanks to the Government of Colombia for bringing us together today.  And I commend you for leading by example — with ambitious national measures to reduce single-use plastics.

We are here because we know the obvious.  Plastic pollution is everywhere — all around us and even inside us — from our seas to our blood, to our brains.  We are choking on plastic.  Every year, people may ingest the equivalent of up to 50 plastic bags due to microplastics in food.

Each year, humanity produces over 460 million metric tons of plastic.  Half of it is designed for single-use purposes – used once and tossed away. By 2050, there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish.  And so, it is clear that we need action, and fortunately, people are now demanding it.

We would not be here today but for the historic step taken by Peru and Rwanda in introducing a joint proposal that paved the way for the adoption, in 2022, at the UN Environment Assembly, of a landmark resolution to begin the process to end plastic pollution.

Since then, solidarity has been the hallmark of these negotiations.  We see this solidarity enshrined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework that has reinforced the importance of addressing pollution from all sources to reduce the impacts of pollution on ecosystems and biodiversity.

And we see this solidarity in the Pact for the Future, through which Member States recommitted to work towards the conclusion of a plastics agreement “with the ambition of completing negotiations by the end of 2024”.

In Busan, Member States will have the chance to deliver on these promises and agree on a global treaty to end plastic pollution — once and for all.  This has not been a road without challenges, but it has been a journey of progress.

I thank the Chair of the International Negotiating Committee, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, as well as his predecessor, Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, for getting us through five rounds of complex negotiations.

This is an opportunity to demonstrate that multilateralism, while not always easy, can deliver for people, health and the environment. The ball is now in the court of Member States to land an agreement that is ambitious, credible and just.  An agreement that addresses the life cycle of plastic — tackling single-use and short-lived plastics; an agreement that responds to the needs of people and communities and that unleashes a just transition for all — including 20 million waste-pickers around the world.

As the Montreal Protocol demonstrated almost 40 years ago, international cooperation underpinned by meaningful legally binding agreements remains the most fruitful avenue to address global environmental challenges.

I urge you to step up for human health, equity and justice. To step up for the future of people and planet.  An ambitious agreement is the only way to end plastic pollution.