Financial Institutions unite in a joint call to governments to end plastic pollution
In April 2024, ahead of the fourth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-4), 180 financial institutions – representing 17.2 USD trillion in combined assets, from all regions – signed the Finance Statement on Plastic Pollution. It calls on governments to negotiate an ambitious international legally binding instrument (ILBI) to end plastic pollution, and sets out what a robust agreement would include from the perspective of the financial sector.
The INC-5.2 negotiations will take place from the 6-14 August at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
Hear from the signatories, including FfB members Jan Erik Saugestad – Storebrand Asset Management, Olaf van den Heuvel – Achmea Investment Management, and FfB signatory Hadewych Kuiper – Triodos.
Plastic pollution: a growing global threat
Our world is facing a triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Over recent decades, the production and consumption of plastic, particularly single-use items, has surged. Today, plastic pollution is a significant and growing global threat harming our ecosystem services, people, and the economy.
These risks cannot be mitigated simply by diversifying financial portfolios; they threaten the functioning of wider systems on which financial performance relies.ยน They demand urgent and necessary collaboration by all actors, including the international financial community.
The financial sector acknowledges the crucial role it can play in addressing the root causes of plastic pollution and in enabling a sustainable, safe, and just circular plastics economy at every stage of the process. Increasingly, the finance community is stepping up, working in line with internationally agreed frameworks such as the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and by engaging with governments on the ILBI negotiations.
But voluntary action is not enough. The statement takes inspiration from these existing multilateral frameworks, which set a clear mandate for countries to direct financial flows towards climate and biodiversity goals. The ILBI provides an opportunity to establish a similar policy mandate with regard to eliminating plastic pollution.
Signatories unite in a joint call for an ambitious plastic treaty
The signatories have expressed their willingness to actively address the risks of plastic pollution. However, they cannot do this alone. They have called on governments to agree on an ambitious ILBI that sets a clear objective to end plastic pollution, that is supported by binding rules and obligations for governments to address the full life cycle of plastic.
The statement calls for:
- Alignment of financial flows – both public and private – to the goals of the global plastics treaty supporting the implementation of global sustainability objectives to end plastic pollution.
- Clear, understandable policy frameworks and relevant policy instruments which will allow businesses and financial institutions to make informed, responsible investment decisions across the entire plastics value chain.
- Reporting frameworks, inspired by voluntary standards – like the Taskforces on Climate- and Nature-related Disclosures, which will enable greater transparency and capital flowing towards circular plastics solutions, allowing companies to assess and disclose plastic-related risks and opportunities.
- A robust and enabling policy environment, such as extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, which would ensure companies are accountable for plastic pollution, supporting a sustainable circular economy across the plastics value chain.
- Public-private partnerships, blended finance approaches, and risk-sharing mechanisms to attract private capital to fund innovative, scalable solutions.
- Pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss are interconnected global issues. We need integrated policy and regulatory approaches to unlock systemic change and achieve broader environmental co-benefits for the financial sector and their clients.
INC-5.2 in Geneva is a historic moment; governments can adopt an effective global plastics treaty to end this plastic pollution crisis. Financial actors stand alongside them, ready to partner, bringing expertise and momentum to negotiations and implementation.
The statement was prepared by UNEP FI, the Principles for Responsible Investment, Finance for Biodiversity Foundation, the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO) and CDP.
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