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- Ecuador joins the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastics Action Partnership to propose national solutions for a circular plastics economy
- Ecuador is the first Latin American country to join the partnership
Impact Meetings Ecuador has announced its decision to join a committed group of partner countries of the Global Plastic Action Partnership. The GPAP is a multi-stakeholder platform dedicated to translating commitments to reduce pollution and plastic waste into concrete actions. It aims to shape a more sustainable and inclusive world through the eradication of plastic pollution.
Ecuador’s association comes at a crucial time, just before the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) begins work in November to assess countries’ ambitions for a plastic pollution treaty. The 11 representatives of the INC office, including Ecuador’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Luis Vayas, will meet in Uruguay to begin negotiating a legally binding treaty.
“The Galapagos Islands remind us of a universal responsibility towards biodiversity and nature. We are delighted to see Ecuador’s leadership and look forward to our collaboration as we tackle this key global issue together,” said Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum.
“The Global Partnership for Plastics Action is pleased to support cross-government efforts and multi-stakeholder action in Ecuador at a pivotal time for the global plastic pollution agenda. With the amount of plastic waste produced globally poised to nearly triple by 2060, countries are taking increasingly action-oriented steps to tackle the problem,” said Kristin Hughes, director of the Global Plastics Action Partnership.
In line with its environmental leadership and cross-cutting policy of ecological transition, Ecuador will work with GPAP and other strategic allies to launch a national partnership to strengthen the country’s efforts to combat plastic waste pollution.
“We are aware of the triple environmental crisis facing the planet and we are committed to promoting actions to mitigate its effects. For the government of President Guillermo Lasso, taking care of the oceans and all ecosystems is essential, which is why we have expanded the “Hermandad” (Brotherhood) Marine Reserve of the Galápagos Islands,” said the Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Human Mobility, Juan Carlos Holguín. “In addition, together with Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama, we have committed to the sustainable management of resources and have created the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR). The association of Ecuador with the GPAP is an immediate response and it will federate the efforts of different actors to propose solutions to plastic pollution.
The Minister of the Environment, Gustavo Manrique, highlighted Ecuador’s ecological transition policy and highlighted the decisive measures the country has already taken, including the law on single-use plastics, municipal directives, the law on the circular economy, refundable taxes on plastic bottles and programs such as “Zero Waste Galapagos”.
Additionally, together with Germany, Viet Nam and Ghana, Ecuador led the Ministerial Conference on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution in Geneva, Switzerland in September 2021, after which the INC was established.
GPAP will support Ecuador, one of the most biodiverse countries in the world and home to the Galapagos Islands, in building its technical capacities, accessing global networks of knowledge and practices, and its efforts to convene the multi-stakeholder platforms needed to advance national and international goals. Nations currently implementing such partnerships include Ghana, Pakistan, Indonesia, Viet Nam and Nigeria, as well as local partnerships with the state of Maharashtra in India and Mexico City.
The goal of GPAP is to enable a circular economy framework for plastics, designed and implemented between public and business leaders, civil society, and the scientific and academic community, to reduce plastic pollution. It also includes strategic opportunities for funding, innovation and measurement.
The meetings bring together communities of purpose, which include business leaders, policy makers, international and civil society organizations, innovators and entrepreneurs. These stakeholders will use the meetings to advance their work, make concrete progress on the Sustainable Development Goals and build momentum towards key milestones in the months ahead, including COP27 and the 2023 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in January. .
