G7 members pledge to end plastic pollution by 2040

Sapporo: Officials of the G7 group along with climate ministers pledged to end plastic pollution in their respective countries by 2040.

A statement released by the Group of Seven members following talks in northern Japan said, “We are committed to end plastic pollution, with the ambition to reduce additional plastic pollution to zero by 2040.”

Countries like Germany, France, Canada, and Britain made a similar pledge last year and are already part of a multi-national coalition.

But this is the first time the remaining Group of Seven members — Japan, the United States and Italy — have made the 2040 commitment.

Hailing the bloc’s new plastic pollution pledge, German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said that it is an “ambitious goal” at a press conference.

The statement added that the phase-out will be achieved by “promoting sustainable consumption and production of plastics, increasing their circularity in the economy, and environmentally sound management of waste.”

Plastic waste has doubled globally in 20 years and only nine percent is successfully recycled, according to the OECD group of developed countries.

The United Nations says the volume of plastic entering the oceans will nearly triple by 2040.

With inputs from agencies

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