The surge in the production and consumption of plastic has led to a significant increase in plastic waste and pollution. This contributes to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, and pose a growing threat to human rights and public health, demanding an urgent and coordinated response from the international community. In 2022, a historic resolution was adopted by UN Member States to develop an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution. The negotiators are now preparing for the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) that will take place in April 2024.

Meanwhile, the finance sector is increasingly stepping up to the plastic pollution challenge by addressing system-level risks in line with internationally agreed frameworks such as the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. A robust international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution would enable the identification and optimization of the co-benefits and synergies between financial flows addressing plastic pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss, and ensure that these links are reflected in policy and regulatory interventions.

During this webinar and ahead of INC-4, UNEP FI, PRI, Finance for Biodiversity Foundation, the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty (Ellen MacArthur Foundation/WWF), the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development and the Carbon Disclosure Project will open the Finance Statement on Plastic Pollution for signatures. All financial institutions including investors, asset managers, asset owners, banks, and insurance companies, as well as financial industry associations and other finance-related initiatives will be invited to sign the statement to call on governments for an ambitious plastics treaty that creates the mandatory framework and the enabling environment for the private finance sector to fully play its role in ending plastic pollution.

Speakers will highlight the importance of a sustainable, safe, and just circular plastics economy and the crucial role of finance in enabling this transition. Finally, the webinar will outline various ways through which financial institutions can take part in the global fight to beat plastic pollution and align their activities with the objective of eliminating plastic pollution.

Speakers
  • Bethanie Carney Almroth, Professor of Eco-Toxicology, University of Gothenburg in Sweden / Representant of The Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty
  • Rob Opsomer, Executive Lead Plastics and Finance, Ellen Macarthur Foundation
  • Chloe Maury, ESG/Sustainable Investing Analyst, Amundi Asset Management
  • Joost van Dun, Director Sustainable Finance & Circular Economy Lead, ING Bank
  • Arthur van Mansvelt, Senior Engagement Specialist, Achmea Investment Management
  • Moderator: Jan Raes, Finance and Plastics Lead, UNEP FI