Over 60 major players against plastic pollution have formed the
Innovation Alliance for a Global Plastics Treaty (IAGPT). Recognizing that the ongoing
United Nations-led treaty-negotiation
process
represents humanity’s single most important opportunity to alter the trajectory
of the global plastic pollution crisis for decades to come, the IAGPT aims to
broaden the discussion to include crucial perspectives from those on the front
lines tackling plastic waste worldwide.
Millions of tons of plastic waste entering the environment each year, 91
percent of plastic waste is not
recycled,
and up to 1 million people die from mismanaged
waste
every year. In response to this crisis, thousands of solutions and technologies
have emerged and rapidly scaled their impact in recent years, demonstrating a
clear case that indigenous innovations and entrepreneurship-led systems change
lie are key to eliminating the issue.
However, this plastic-action ecosystem has largely developed in a vacuum
separated from the institutional world; and so far, its voices have been acutely
underrepresented in global policymaking — which illustrates the Global North
bias
often characteristic in policymaking. THE IAGPT, convened by rePurpose
Global and The Ocean
Cleanup, aims to ensure inclusion of these
innovators and those most affected by the crisis — and in doing so, help ensure
that the Global Plastics Treaty lives up to its promised potential.
"The first round of treaty negotiations saw plenty of demands being lobbed in
every direction, but not a whole lot of solutions. Out of the 1000+ delegates at
INC-1,
there were hundreds of advocacy groups present — ranging from the World
Wildlife Fund to the petrochemical lobby — but barely a handful of delegates
representing actual solutions against plastic waste,” said Svanika
Balasubramanian, co-founder & CEO at
rePurpose Global — a platform helping hundreds of companies and governments take
action against plastic waste across the entire value chain.
the exciting potential of cultivated, fermented and plant-based protein innovation
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“It was precisely this glaring lack of representation of solutionists at INC-1
that inspired our two organizations to come together and convene the Innovation
Alliance,” said Boyan Slat, founder
and CEO at The Ocean Cleanup — the international NGO developing and scaling
technologies to rid the oceans of
plastic.
“We realized that a plastics treaty negotiation that does not actively involve
innovators will risk producing a piece of text that sounds promising on paper
but doesn't empower those who are actually doing the work on the ground.”
To date, the IAGPT has attracted dozens of influential organizations active in
various aspects of tackling plastic pollution across its entire lifecycle —
including reuse & refill
systems,
alternative
materials,
philanthropies, recycling AI & technology firms, startup incubators, pollution
cleanup,
academic institutions, and waste-worker organizations. Together, the IAGPT — which includes founding members
AMP Robotics, CruzFoam, Delterra (previously McKinsey.org),
Enviu, Fondation de la Mer, Greyparrot, Mananalu, Ocean
Bottle, Recykal, Saahas, SALT, SecondMuse, Sustainable Ocean
Alliance, Sway — has raised over $500M to support its endeavors, is active
in more than 120 countries, employs tens of thousands of people, and forms the
backbone of waste-prevention and -remediation infrastructure globally.
The Innovation Alliance will kickstart its activities in the lead-up to
INC-2,
the second of five UN negotiating summits for the Global Plastics Treaty, to
be held in Paris later this month. Ahead of the summit, the IAGPT’s
endorsing organizations are calling out the need for a pragmatic and inclusive
treaty that:
-
leverages valuable data & insights from the plastic-action innovation
ecosystem towards informed policymaking and effective regulation
enforcement;
-
recognizes, safeguards and promotes the inclusion of existing innovations —
from source to sea — in global regulatory frameworks; and
-
eases the complexity around traditional government financing and improves
access to flexible financing for solution-oriented organizations.
For more details on the Alliance’s activities and priorities, visit the IAGPT
website and its Vision
Statement.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published May 15, 2023 9am EDT / 6am PDT / 2pm BST / 3pm CEST