WTO: Morocco Chairs in Geneva 2nd Meeting of Informal Dialogue on Plastic Pollution

Geneva – Morocco chaired, Monday in Geneva, the 2nd meeting of the “WTO Informal Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade”, focusing on the themes of transparency and international cooperation.

This meeting, attended by Director General of the WTO, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the ambassadors of the group of co-sponsors (Morocco, China, Fiji, Barbados, the United Kingdom, Ecuador, and Australia), as well as representatives of UNCTAD, the Graduate Institute, and other stakeholders, proposes to reflect on the aspects relating to transparency and international cooperation in examining the issue of plastic pollution, in prospect of drafting a declaration for the 12th Ministerial Conference of the WTO (CM12), scheduled for the end of the current year”.

The presidency by Morocco of this meeting stems from the steadfast and irreversible commitment of the Kingdom in favor of the environmental cause. It also illustrates the Kingdom’s full confidence in the WTO’s willingness to play its role in regulating the trade in plastics and promoting a circular economy which is environment-friendly and respects the climate.

“Morocco, which realized very early on the importance of proactive actions in environmental matters and the urgent need to act on the causes of climate change, is a major player in sustainable development in Africa and in the world, and is very invested in international and regional bodies to respond to the climate challenge, a pressing need for all humankind”, underlined, on this occasion, the permanent representative of the Kingdom in Geneva, Ambassador Omar Zniber.

Zniber insisted, in this regard, on the environmental dimension of trade, which holds an important place in discussions within the WTO, triggered in particular by the negative impact of plastic pollution as showed several researches on the global production of plastics, specifying that each year, more than 300 million tons of plastic waste are generated.

The Informal Dialogue was launched in November 2020 during the Trade and Environment Week of the Committee on Trade and Environment. It aims to provide a platform for members to explore – by the exchange of ideas, information and views – how the WTO could contribute to national and global efforts to tackle plastic pollution and move towards a circular and sustainable plastic trade.