Stockholm (NordSIP) – The global plastic pollution cris is the chosen theme for this year’s World Environment Day (WED), which takes place on 5 June 2025 and is hosted by the Republic of Korea. With more than 400 million tonnes of plastic waste being generated globally each year and waste management systems unable to cope, the urgent need to regulate this ubiquitous but highly damaging industry has rapidly risen to the top of the environmental agenda.
In selecting the goal of beating plastic pollution as the overarching theme of WED 2025, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) hopes to raise awareness of plastic’s core role in the climate, biodiversity and waste crises. WED host nation South Korea also hosted the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution (INC-5) in November 2024, which unfortunately ended without international agreement. While INC-5 had originally been intended as the final such negotiating session, the participating nations agreed to reconvene at INC-5.2 in Geneva, Switzerland from 5 to 14 August 2025.
UNEP’s #beatplasticpollution campaign is aimed at governments, civil society organisations, individual citizens and consumers, and businesses and investors. The latter are urged to take action by eliminating problematic plastic packaging from their value chains, while ensuring that the remainder is designed to be reusable or recyclable. Institutional investors are becoming more aware of their exposure to highly problematic externalities relating to plastic use by investee companies, as well as the reputational risk associated with growing consumer awareness of the adverse environmental impacts. They are encouraged to engage on this issue with portfolio companies and participate in initiatives like the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment.
Ahead of WED, a new Global Plastics Hub was launched by UNEP with financial support form the governments of Japan, Norway, and the United States. The hub is aimed at policymakers and other interested parties and will provide up-to-date information on 80 plastic pollution-related indicators.
Speaking in Geneva on 1 May 2025, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said: “The solution to this wave of plastic pollution is within reach. After two years of negotiations on an instrument to end plastic pollution, kickstarted by UNEA resolution 5/14, we are approaching what we hope will be a definitive end to the process – the resumed fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, or INC-5.2.” With the focus of WED 2025 very much on plastic pollution, Andersen hopes it will help provide the final impetus for the negotiating parties to be able to resolve their outstanding issues and come together to support the proposed international plastics treaty.
Image courtesy of Karuvadgraphy from Pixabay
Stockholm (NordSIP) – The global plastic pollution cris is the chosen theme for this year’s World Environment Day (WED), which takes place on 5 June 2025 and is hosted by the Republic of Korea. With more than 400 million tonnes of plastic waste being generated globally each year and waste management systems unable to cope, the urgent need to regulate this ubiquitous but highly damaging industry has rapidly risen to the top of the environmental agenda.
In selecting the goal of beating plastic pollution as the overarching theme of WED 2025, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) hopes to raise awareness of plastic’s core role in the climate, biodiversity and waste crises. WED host nation South Korea also hosted the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution (INC-5) in November 2024, which unfortunately ended without international agreement. While INC-5 had originally been intended as the final such negotiating session, the participating nations agreed to reconvene at INC-5.2 in Geneva, Switzerland from 5 to 14 August 2025.
UNEP’s #beatplasticpollution campaign is aimed at governments, civil society organisations, individual citizens and consumers, and businesses and investors. The latter are urged to take action by eliminating problematic plastic packaging from their value chains, while ensuring that the remainder is designed to be reusable or recyclable. Institutional investors are becoming more aware of their exposure to highly problematic externalities relating to plastic use by investee companies, as well as the reputational risk associated with growing consumer awareness of the adverse environmental impacts. They are encouraged to engage on this issue with portfolio companies and participate in initiatives like the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment.
Ahead of WED, a new Global Plastics Hub was launched by UNEP with financial support form the governments of Japan, Norway, and the United States. The hub is aimed at policymakers and other interested parties and will provide up-to-date information on 80 plastic pollution-related indicators.
Speaking in Geneva on 1 May 2025, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said: “The solution to this wave of plastic pollution is within reach. After two years of negotiations on an instrument to end plastic pollution, kickstarted by UNEA resolution 5/14, we are approaching what we hope will be a definitive end to the process – the resumed fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, or INC-5.2.” With the focus of WED 2025 very much on plastic pollution, Andersen hopes it will help provide the final impetus for the negotiating parties to be able to resolve their outstanding issues and come together to support the proposed international plastics treaty.
Image courtesy of Karuvadgraphy from Pixabay
