Written by Virginia Furness and Simon Jessop
LONDON (Reuters) – A group of 160 financial companies on Friday called on governments to agree a treaty to end plastic pollution that would spur private sector action ahead of the next round of global talks in Canada.
The fourth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-4) is scheduled to be held in Ottawa next week to lay the groundwork for a final agreement by the end of the year.
Microplastics are found everywhere from the Himalayas to staple food and even human blood, and reducing the estimated 400 million tons of waste produced each year is an important part of efforts to protect biodiversity. That's the important part.
To solve the problem, financial firms, including Britain's largest investment firm Legal & General Investment Management and Canadian pension investment firm CDPQ, called for a policy framework backed by binding rules.
The group is calling for all public and private funding to be consistent with the goal of eliminating plastic pollution, as well as the Paris Climate Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, among other concrete measures. He called for funding targets to be set in the treaty.
It also called on companies to assess and disclose plastic-related risks and opportunities. The government's plastics-related policies and targets in areas such as waste generation and recycling will become clearer. and ensure that more private investment is directed towards ending plastic pollution.
“A clear transition pathway set out in the treaty will help mobilize finance at scale for this massive challenge of eliminating plastic pollution around the world,” said ING, one of the signatories. said Anne-Sophie Castelnau, Global Head of Possibilities.
Steve Herdman, CEO of Plastics Collective, the NGO that designed the world's first plastic waste reduction bond with Citi and the World Bank, welcomed the support but called for businesses to provide further financial solutions. Ta.
In January, the World Bank issued a $100 million bond to fund plastic reduction projects in Ghana and Indonesia. Investors will be paid a fee linked to the plastic removal credits generated by the project.
(Edited by Mark Potter)
