WWF Sustainability Works

WWF and American Beverage have been working together for the last five years to keep plastic out of nature. And as Kevin Keane tells us in this week’s episode of Nature Breaking, restoring confidence in the recycling system is a critical part of that effort: “One of the elements that undermines the confidence is literally two towns next to each other have two different rules. And so the consumer doesn't know what will ultimately happen. We need to build up that confidence.” Catch the full episode of Nature Breaking to hear more from Kevin about how ABA is working with WWF to advance recycling solutions – from changing state policies across the US to educating consumers about the value of plastic. And at the start of the episode, you’ll also hear an update about the recent efforts to establish a UN treaty to tackle plastic pollution on a global scale. Watch: https://lnkd.in/eFNbrT5h

Last night, WWF's Erin Simon participated in a Newsweek Horizons panel. Erin, along with Allison Lin 林宜蓁 (Mars), Leonardo Trasande (NYU Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards), ♻️Jonathan Quinn♻️(U.S. Plastics Pact) and Jessica Long (Closed Loop Partners) were interviewed by Newsweek's Jeff Young and explored the future of plastics and what comes next in the global plastics treaty process. Read Newsweek's recap of the event: https://lnkd.in/ecRAzTFe Or watch the panel here (program begins at 11 min mark): https://lnkd.in/exnccEQe

Tonight at 6pm ET, join WWF's Erin Simon and others for a Newsweek livestream event. The panelists will recap the recent results from the UN plastic treaty negotiations that just wrapped up on Sunday, and set the stage for what comes next. Don't miss it, register here: https://lnkd.in/eEnZbnz9

WWF's Erin Simon was in Busan last week for what was supposed to be the final round of negotiations for a global treaty against plastic pollution. But it didn't turn out that way. Erin gives the play-by-play in a new blog, explaining what went wrong and why there's still hope. https://lnkd.in/dXqAqWa8

WWF's Erin Simon was in Busan last week for what was supposed to be the final round of negotiations for a global treaty against plastic pollution. But it didn't turn out that way. Erin gives the play-by-play in a new blog, explaining what went wrong and why there's still hope. https://lnkd.in/dXqAqWa8

The UN plastic pollution summit failed to reach an agreement despite majority supporting ambitious measures. “When Member states unanimously agreed to deliver a treaty the planet needs by 2024, the world believed them. Now, the price for inaction is far greater than wasted time, it puts both planetary and human health on the line and sets us up for a scenario where ambition could diminish over time,” said WWF’s Erin Simon. Read our full statement: https://lnkd.in/eWUCKr8e #INC5 #PlasticsTreaty #PlasticPollution

Ahead of the closing session at INC-5, WWF's Erin Simon told The Associated Press that consensus decision making has paralyzed the talks. “Not having a threat of a vote means each country has a veto card,” she said. “They have no incentive to come up with a plan and we’ve seen that time and time again in these negotiations.” #INC5 #PlasticsTreaty #PlasticPollution https://lnkd.in/dDEu5zi9

Crucial multilateral negotiations are underway in Busan, South Korea, to craft a new global treaty governing the production, use and disposal or reuse of plastics. Already a huge pollution problem that threatens the health of humans and of ecosystems, there are staggering and reliable projections that show plastics production is likely to continue its rapid increase. While consumer demand due to the convenience of these ubiquitous products is at the heart of this expansion, we are not paying the full price of their production and management. Recycling as currently practiced and promoted is mostly greenwashing. Taxpayers end up footing the bill through disposal and cleanup costs, as well as from increasingly documented adverse health impacts. It is also becoming clear that oil and gas companies and petro-states are shifting their emphasis to plastics production because they see them (and other non-energy petrochemical products) as fallback revenue streams in the face of pressures - driven by a response to the climate change crisis - to phase out reliance on fossil fuels for energy. While this phase out is slower than needed to halt the rise of global temperatures and extreme weather, shifts in policy, markets and technologies will eventually make most oil and gas production uneconomic. So it’s crucial that a strong new plastics treaty be crafted and agreed to set clear and binding rules for the industry. This should not only ensure that the carbon footprint of plastics is measured and abated, but that the industry embraces alternatives to plastics (including bans on most single-use products), restrictions on those chemicals that are most harmful to health or difficult to reuse or recycle, industry responsibility for tracking and proper reuse, recycling or disposal of their products and other sustainability measures. See a good overview here by my former WWF colleague, Erin Simon: https://lnkd.in/er4wKdNw

At #INC5, with only hours left for negotiations, governments must make a choice. They can continue negotiating a treaty with universal support but little impact. Or they can agree on a treaty based on global rules across the full lifecycle of plastics, confident in knowing that this is what the majority of governments, business and civil society wants. A treaty based on voluntary measures alone will not end plastic pollution and will only exacerbate the fragmented regulatory environment that business is facing. We are in Busan until the end of INC-5, advocating that #BusinessNeedsGlobalRules. https://lnkd.in/d8BXmVhf https://lnkd.in/d2ND9vA4 John Duncan Carsten Wachholz Ed Shepherd Jodie Roussell Ambrogio Miserocchi Marta Longhurst Rob Opsomer Armando Russi David Clark Rognhaug Jacob Andrea Cino Barreda Dacie Meng Harriet Talbot Meghna Laxman MacDonald Tze Ni Yeoh Gloria Gabellini Rognhaug Jacob Volker Glöckner