Global agreement to prevent plastic pollution

Negotiations on a global agreement on plastic pollution are likely to start in 2022. Such a global agreement is hoped to foster a transition to a more circular global plastics economy. This transition is likely to provide significant environmental, economic and social opportunities. Yet, countries will also need financial resources in order to take advantage of these opportunities. A crucial issue in the negotiations of the agreement and an essential condition for its effectiveness will therefore be the availability, mobilisation and delivery of financial resources.

The study will discuss options for the basic financial set-up and approaches to resource mobilisation and delivery that ensure the agreement’s effective operation and implementation at international and national levels. It will provide answers to five guiding questions:

• What are the economic opportunities of a global circular plastics economy?
• What are key finance needs and gaps in order to achieve a (more) circular plastics economy and how can financial support under a global agreement on plastic pollution contribute to satisfy these needs and bridge existing funding gaps?
• How to mobilise and deliver international funding from public and private sources that enable countries to implement a global agreement on plastic pollution?
• How to mobilise and deliver domestic public and private resources that help funding national efforts to address plastic pollution throughout the life cycle of plastics?
• How to finance the secretariat of a global agreement on plastic pollution?

The study serves to inform decision-makers and other interested actors about options for the mobilisation and delivery of international and domestic financial resources from public and private sources in the context of a global agreement on plastic pollution, so that they can use them in further multilateral decision-making and negotiation processes.