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Plastics pollution, including marine litter; is a global social, economic, and environmental emergency requiring urgent attention. Plastics are produced from fossil fuels, and once released into the environment, they never disappear. Instead, they degrade into physical and chemical forms, leading to the contamination of all biophysical systems. If we carry on business-as-usual this will culminate to 1.1 billion tonnes having entered the world’s oceans by 2030

Pacific Islands policy frameworks do not capture the full life cycle of plastics. Yet, plastics emit greenhouse gases and ozone depleting chemicals, create marine litter, shed microplastics, and leach toxic chemicals throughout their full life cycle. For example, Ninety-nine percent of plastics come from fossil fuels, and plastics production is estimated to produce > 400 million tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) per year. This figure does not include emissions from waste management (including transport), mismanagement, and degradation of plastic products. Plastics pollution, including marine litter, magnifies climate impacts in the Pacific region and threatens the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

Global plastics production is a significant contributor to climate change impacts in the Pacific Islands region. Ninety-nine percent of plastics come from fossil fuels, and plastics production is estimated to produce > 400 million tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) per year. This figure does not include emissions from waste management (including transport), mismanagement, and degradation of plastic products. Plastics pollution, including marine litter, magnifies climate impacts in the Pacific region and threatens the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

Once produced, plastic never disappear. They are released into the environment, where they break up into tiny (micro-nano-sized) fragments. They leach toxic chemicals and gases at every stage of their life cycle and they attract and transfer additional toxic chemicals, pathogens, and invasive species. Toxic plastics-related chemicals and nano and microplastics contaminate soil, food, marine and freshwater sources, air and the bodies of animals and humans.

Despite the known environmental and human health harm of plastics, the Pacific Islands are under tremendous pressure to continue to import plastic products, to meet the high consumption expectations of tourists, and to manufacture plastics domestically. Current legal and policy frameworks in the region either exclude or include limited trade-related provisions, production, manufacturing, importation, packaging and end-of-life standards, and technical regulations for plastics, persistent organic pollutants and chemical activities.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) through its Pacific sub-regional office are joining forces to provide support to Pacific delegates to the international UN Oceans Conference.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) through its Pacific sub-regional office are joining forces to provide support to Pacific delegates to the international UN Oceans Conference.