EU Signs Historic Bridge to Busan Declaration to Address Plastic Pollution

What is Bushan Declaration?

The European Union has formally endorsed the Bridge to Busan Declaration, a pivotal international agreement designed to establish a legally binding framework to regulate the production of primary plastic polymers and mitigate the impacts of plastic pollution. This move marks a significant step toward addressing one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.

Why Plastic Production Crisis is Urgent?

With projections indicating that the production of primary plastic polymers will surge exponentially through 2050 if current trends continue, there is an urgent need to address this issue. The overwhelming increase in plastic production threatens to overload national waste management and recycling systems, complicating efforts to meet global targets for plastic pollution reduction and to limit the rise in global average temperatures to less than 1.5°C, as stipulated by the Paris Agreement.

What's the Strategic Focus on Primary Plastic Polymers?

The Declaration advocates for tackling the production of primary plastic polymers as one of the most effective and cost-efficient strategies to manage plastic pollution. Signatories emphasize that the responsibility for these efforts should be shared equitably among nations, ensuring a collaborative approach throughout the entire lifecycle of plastics.

Goals of the Declaration

The primary goals of the Declaration are to:

- Achieve Sustainable Production Levels: Signatories aim to align plastic production with the principles of a circular economy and the Paris Agreement’s climate goals.
- Enhance Transparency: Comprehensive data reporting on primary plastic polymer production is crucial for closing information gaps, evaluating progress, and reassessing priorities as needed.
- Establish Global Objectives: The Declaration calls for setting a global objective for primary plastic polymer production, which may include production freezes, reductions from baseline levels, or other constraints to prevent unsustainable practices.