Today marks World Environment Day, the UN's international day to recognise the role of the environment in our lives and how we need a shift in our lifestyle to accommodate living sustainably and in harmony with nature. 

Plastic pollution is one of the main contributors to the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Recent data from the United Nations Environment Programme report, ‘Turning off the Tap’, reveals that every year we produce 430 million metric tonnes of plastic, most of which become waste after single use.  

This year’s World Environment Day theme, Solutions to plastic pollution, emphasises the need to realise an end to plastic pollution. Following the historic decision at the fifth United Nations Environment Assembly in March 2022, agreed by all 193 UN Member States, work towards an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution is now underway. Experts from around the world, including INBAR, an implementation partner of TRADE Hub led by UNEP-WCMC attended the Second Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastics Pollution to develop the instrument, which took place in Paris, France, from 29 May to 2 June 2023.  

Technology and solutions already exist but require transformative changes  

Many solutions have been proposed to address plastic pollution. Scaling up reusable products and making them more profitable, making recycling plastics more profitable by improving recycling (which could reduce plastic pollution by 20 per cent by 2040) and finding materials to replace plastics and make sure they are better alternatives to plastics, are some of the key opportunities to tackle plastic pollution.  

In UNEP’s recent report, experts analysed the opportunities and impacts of a systems change scenario and how it could enable countries to reduce plastic pollution while ensuring sustainable livelihoods. The report reveals that by shifting to a circular economy for plastics by 2040, we could reduce volumes of plastics entering oceans by 80 per cent, reduce virgin plastic production by 55 per cent, create 700,000 additional job opportunities, and save more than USD 4.5 trillion.  

Links between plastic reduction and protecting biodiversity  

Plastic pollution is known to have direct linkages to modifying habitats and natural processes, leading to reduction in the ability of ecosystems to adapt to climate change, increasing food and water safety concerns and further affecting millions of people's livelihoods. Micro and nano plastics particularly impact a spectrum of organisms, through a combination of chemical and physical effects, potentially causing devastating biological responses. Target 7 of the latest international targets for nature – the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – committed governments to the prevention, reduction and action towards the elimination of plastic pollution by 2030.  

Moving towards plastic alternatives 

At the Second Global Bamboo and Rattan Congress, held last year, in Beijing, China, our TRADE Hub China component partner, the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR), promoted the use of bamboo and rattan materials as plastic alternatives and highlighted their role in progressing green economic development.  

However, there are multiple roadblocks in the effort to promote these plastic substitutes, ranging from production costs to consumer acceptance.  

UNEP-WCMC's TRADE Hub project team, working alongside colleagues at INBAR, are now devising a roadmap towards shifting to sustainable bamboo production. Roadblocks our team have revealed include:   

• Lack of public awareness - changing consumer behaviour directly has been challenging, especially with trade-offs of product price and quality and there being a notable lack of market access to reasonably priced alternatives. There is a need to provide access to relevant information for the public to realise the alternatives for plastics.  
• Production costs - producing alternatives with bamboo are 20-30 per cent higher than plastics currently.  
• Lack of favourable policies to support production of alternative products and enhance supply capacity to boost trade and market consumption.  
• International/national certification costs to smallholder farmers and small-to-medium enterprises - according to various due diligence systems for products to enter the international market, especially EU and US, sustainable traceability of raw bamboo is required – however, evidencing sustainability is costly and often unaffordable for small players. 

The promotion and use of biodegradable and renewable non-plastic substitutions is a critical approach to reducing plastic waste. Bamboo is one of the nature-based solutions for mitigating plastic pollution and climate change.

With the support from UNEP-WCMC, via engagement within TRADE Hub project, INBAR is diving into bamboo’s role in mitigate plastics pollution, and how the trade of bamboo plastic substitution supports a healthy planet and resilient livelihood." 

Li Yanxia, Senior Programme Officer at International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR)

Our recommendations to promote sustainable plastic alternatives

Addressing these challenges will be critical to promote bamboo as a plastic alternative. Last year, our partner INBAR and the government of China jointly launched the 'Replacing Plastic with Bamboo' Initiative, aimed at radicalising the use of bamboo as a renewable resource that addresses both plastic pollution and climate change.  

With the support of UNEP-WCMC via TRADE Hub project, INBAR is now an active stakeholder involved with the INC on plastics to develop the international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution by 2024. Our ongoing collaboration with INBAR will help strengthen the global enabling environment for bamboo as a nature-based solution to help tackle the plastics pollution crisis.  

Plastic is being used in so many fronts of our day-to-day life. It is convenient, it is cheap and it represents a large proportion of our economy. In trying to solve the plastic pollution problem, we must also recognize its interconnections with other issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss and be mindful to not create other problems. It was a historic moment when the UNEA resolution on INC for plastics was adopted; and very encouraging with the inclusion of solving plastic pollution crisis in the recently adopted Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

We have been moving a step forward by looking into the potential of bamboo as an example demonstrating the application of nature-based solution in addressing biodiversity and plastic pollution agendas. We look forward to continuously identifying actionable solutions on this important topic.” 

Dr Han Meng, UNEP-WCMC China Officer 

As we celebrate World Environment Day this year, it is crucial that we all recognize how our consumption impacts on the environment, and take action to reduce our habitual use of plastics.