Tanya Plibersek to push for global action on plastic
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek will in Montreal this weekend lobby her international counterparts to adopt a legally binding treaty to eliminate plastics.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek will, on the sidelines of global environment talks in Montreal this weekend, lobby her international counterparts to adopt a legally binding treaty to eliminate plastics and drive global action to support a circular economy.
Ms Plibersek will head up Australia’s delegation at the COP15 climate summit in Canada, which will include ACT senator David Pocock and Greens environmental spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young.
Australia is pushing for a global pledge to protect 30 per cent of the country’s land and waters by 2030, in line with the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as a target of no new extinctions in the next decade.
Ms Plibersek set a goal to protect 30 per cent of Australia’s land and 30 per cent of oceans by 2030 in response to a landmark State of the Environment Report that found climate change, habit destruction, ocean acidification, extinction and river health had all worsened.
As part of Australia’s membership of the High Ambition Coalition on Plastic Pollution, Ms Plibersek is pursuing a legally binding instrument that will drive action across the whole life cycle of plastics.
Ms Plibersek said plastic pollution required “global solutions”, and Australia would continue to lead important negotiations to deliver the treaty.
“The Albanese Labor government is committed to protecting our unique environment. I met with state and territory environment ministers in October and agreed to reform the regulation of plastic packaging by 2025,” she told The Australian.
“This will ensure all packaging available in Australia is designed to be recovered, reused, recycled and reprocessed safely in line with circular economy principles.
“Wherever we can, we should be using less plastic packaging, recycling what we do use, and looking for innovative solutions.”
The Albanese government has signalled new regulations to crack down on the recycling sector amid a push for Australia to transition towards a circular economy.
It comes after The Australian revealed one of the largest recycling companies, REDcycle allegedly secretly dumped more than 260 tonnes of plastic into landfill.
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