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RI should improve policies as countries move to end plastic pollution, activists say
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Two men fish at a pond filled with plastic waste at a village in Lhokseumawe, Aceh, on Sept. 29, 2021. (AFP/Azwar Ipank)
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ndonesia should come up with better plastic waste management policies as countries recently endorsed a United Nations resolution to end plastic pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024, activists say.
The resolution, which was endorsed by 175 UN member states during a session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) on March 2, mandates the establishment of an intergovernmental negotiating committee to draft the legally binding instrument.
The upcoming instrument, which is expected to tackle plastic pollution based on a comprehensive approach that takes into account the full lifecycle of plastic, would be “the most important international multilateral environmental deal” since the 2015 Paris climate accord, said UN Environment Programme (UNEP) executive director Inger Andersen.
Climate Policy initiative associate director Tiza Mafira echoed Andersen’s view, saying the resolution was “groundbreaking”, and called for Indonesia to clearly announce its stance over the resolution.
“[The government] should soon communicate Indonesia’s position on the matter,” Tiza told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. “Domestic regulation in Indonesia must also show the commitment to address the whole lifecycle of plastic, not just plastic as waste.”
Read also: 75% of people want single-use plastic banned: Global surveyy
She went on to call on the government to scrutinize some tax incentives for the petrochemical industry, which would be among the industries most affected by the upcoming agreement.
