Today, the gavel came down on a historic resolution at the resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) in Nairobi to end plastic pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024.

Heads of State, Ministers of environment and other representatives from UN Member States endorsed this landmark agreement that addresses the full lifecycle of plastic from source to sea. Plastic production has risen exponentially in the last decades and now amounts to some 400 million tons per year– a figure set to double by 2040.

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said the agreement is the most important international multilateral environmental deal since the Paris climate accord.

See the following links for more information:

• Q&A with UNEP’s Executive Director on the global plastics agreement
• Recording of the closing session
• Speech by UNEP Executive Director: A leap forward for environmental action
• Historic day in the campaign to beat plastic pollution: Nations commit to develop a legally binding agreement