Update 10 May: We won! Today, 187 countries took a major step forward in curbing the plastic waste crisis by adding plastic to the Basel Convention, a treaty that controls the movement of hazardous waste from one country to another. The amendments require exporters to obtain the consent of receiving countries before shipping most contaminated, mixed, or unrecyclable plastic waste, providing an important tool for countries in the Global South to stop the dumping of unwanted plastic waste into their country.
But it's not over. Corporations have to stop producing so much plastic in the first place.
In early May, governments around the world will meet in Switzerland for a vote on international rules to help force wealthy states and corporations to stop treating developing countries like dumps for their plastic rubbish.
In the past two decades, businesses in the EU, US, Japan, Mexico and Canada have been exporting millions of tonnes of plastic waste overseas. That’s how European and North American plastic ends up choking the rivers and coasts of countries like Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.
Together, we can fight that plastic flood and environmental racism -- but we need a majority of governments to back the proposal.
You know how this works. If we show governments that this vote has massive public support, we can overcome the plastic industry lobbyists and polluters.
Sign the petition to governments around the world to vote for this game-changing proposal to update international law, and to minimise marine pollution and international dumping of plastic waste.
The Basel Convention is a legally binding agreement on cross-border waste disposal signed by almost every country in the world, including the European Union. With one small tweak, proposed by Norway, countries exporting their plastic rubbish would have to get the prior informed consent of the country receiving it -- so developing countries can keep shiploads of plastic pollution from landing on their shores.
But getting all 190 governments on board by May will be no easy task, especially with plastic industry lobbyists desperate to keep the status quo. That’s why we need this campaign right now.
Sign the petition to your government, and all Parties to the Basel Convention, to vote for Norway’s Proposals to amend Annexes II, VIII and IX to the Basel Convention.
More information
One small edit for a legal text, one giant leap for addressing plastic pollution: A new plastic waste proposal for the Basel Convention
CIEL. 30 August 2018.
CIEL. 30 August 2018.
Basel Convention Working Group Considers Marine Litter, Nanomaterials, Sound Waste Management
IISD. 11 September 2018.
IISD. 11 September 2018.
