Egypt urges equitable funding in global plastics treaty talks - Foreign Affairs

Al-Ahram Weekly

13 hours ago

Egypt's environment minister, Yasmine Fouad, has called for greater fairness in financing a proposed global treaty to curb plastic pollution, warning that the burden must not fall disproportionately on developing countries.
Fouad raised the issue during a meeting with the European commissioner for the environment, Jessika Roswall, on the sidelines of the third United Nations (UN) Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice. The discussions come ahead of significant treaty negotiations scheduled for 5-14 August 2025 at Geneva's Palais des Nations.
Egypt is concerned that 'financial resources would become a burden on developing countries or be placed on the private sector, it must stem from a shared responsibility,' Fouad said, according to Egypt's environment ministry.
The treaty, which aims to establish a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution, including marine waste, has emerged as a key focus for international environmental cooperation.
Fouad said progress would depend on consensus over contentious provisions, including financing and implementation.
She proposed Articles 3, 6, and 11 as particularly important and called for changes to ensure that developing countries are not sidelined in access to funding or technology.
Fouad also advocated creating an independent funding mechanism to support the treaty's goals rather than relying on existing bodies such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
She said this would ease pressure on limited multilateral funds and mirror Egypt and the European Union's (EU) shared approach to financing the new global biodiversity framework.
She also stressed the importance of technology transfer as part of the treaty, particularly for countries transitioning away from single-use plastic, which struggle to transition effectively due to the lack of viable alternatives.
Egypt has introduced several domestic measures to address plastic waste, including its first waste management law in 2020, which contains specific provisions to regulate single-use plastics.
National awareness campaigns, including the recent Qallelha (Reduce) initiative, have also been launched to curb plastic consumption.
According to UN data, less than 10 percent of the seven billion tonnes of plastic waste produced to date has been recycled globally.
Much of the remainder ends up in landfills or in the environment, damaging ecosystems and public health. The estimated annual economic costs are between $300 billion and $600 billion.
Egypt's plastic consumption was estimated at around five million tonnes in 2022–23.
According to a report from the cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), the sector remains one of the country's largest employers, supporting more than 550,000 jobs across the value chain.
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