GATINEAU — Greenpeace Canada delivered a petition this morning calling for a strong UN Plastics Treaty to the Office of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). The petition was signed by nearly 50,000 people in Canada and more than 2 million people worldwide.
Ahead of the fourth round of negotiations (INC-4) hosted by the Canadian government in Ottawa from April 23 -29, the activists brought banners and a message in a large cutout of a plastic bottle for Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, calling for a strong Global Plastics Treaty and an end to the age of plastic.
“Gone are the romantic days of a lone glass bottle washing ashore, a faraway message inside. Nowadays, shorelines are deluged with plastic bottles — like the cutout we brought to ECCC — with a message from the planet, echoed by over two million people: end the age of plastic,” said Brandon Wei, communications officer on Greenpeace Canada’s oceans and plastic campaign.
Greenpeace’s petition outlines priority demands for a strong legally-binding agreement that includes cuts to plastic production and use, centring justice and upholding Indigenous Rights, and a just transition to a zero waste, low-carbon, reuse-based future. Greenpeace is pushing for a minimum 75-per-cent cut to plastic production by 2040 to stay below 1.5° C for the climate and to protect human health, rights and ecosystems.
The talks happening in Ottawa will be the second-last meeting before the final negotiations happen in Busan, South Korea in November.
“Minister Guilbeault is well aware that the stakes are high with Canada hosting the next round of treaty negotiations, and we want him to know that there is growing global support for Canada to rise in this critical moment for the planet,” said Sarah King, head of Greenpeace Canada’s oceans and plastic campaign. “Canada must work bilaterally to champion a truly impactful treaty, and send a clear signal that if governments are going to be ambitious about tackling plastic pollution, they need to be ambitious about cutting plastic production.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
Photos and videos are available here.
A global media briefer is available here. A Canadian one will be available soon.
For more information:
Brandon Wei, Communications officer, Greenpeace Canada
[email protected]; +1 778 772-6138
If world leaders get it right, a strong Global Plastics Treaty has the potential to end the age of plastic – for good. Join the campaign now!