Individual SDG’s
Sustainable goals development have been accepted by the UN. If none of these goals are specifically about plastic pollution, seven of them are linked to it.
Global Goals
In September 2015, the United Nations established the sustainable development agenda for the period until 2030. The agenda contains the seventeen well-known Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). All member states have accepted a best-efforts commitment to adapt their policies so that the goals can be met in 2030. The agenda has, in the meantime, been embraced by many organizations and companies, and the SDGs have become a guideline for their actions. But despite the serious nature of the threat posed by the issue of plastic pollution, none of the seventeen SDGs focus specifically on the plastic soup.
Framing the issue of plastic pollution
The Honolulu Commitment of 2011 narrowed the problem to plastic rubbish in the sea. At the time, it was not widely recognized that the plastic soup could also exist in freshwater, on land, and in the air, and people didn’t realise that it could also be a threat to human health. Because of the lack of knowledge and the relative newness of the plastic problem, international operations and discussions surrounding the plastic soup tend to refer only to SDG 14. One of its targets focusses on ‘life underwater’ and seeks to “preserve and make sustainable use of oceans, seas, and maritime resources.” In July 2017 the United Nations discussed the execution of SDG 14, and adopted the resolution “Our Ocean, our future: a call for action.” All UN-countries agreed to intensify their efforts to prevent pollution of the oceans, by striving for a reduction in plastics and microplastics. The focus was put in particular on the reduction of Single-Use Plastics (SUP) and especially single-use plastic packaging.
Not only SDG14 but many more SDGs
The Plastic Soup Foundation, together with an international coalition of NGOs united in the Break Free From Plastic movement, argue that SDG 14 (Life below water) should not be the only channel through which to combat the issue of plastic pollution. The international community should also take SDG 3 (Good health and well-being) as well as SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production) into account in order to come up with tangible, effective solutions. There are more SDGs in addition to SDG 14, 3 and 12 that have a relation with the plastic soup — in fact, the issue of plastic pollution touches nearly every Sustainable Development Goal. En ook andere SDGs dan SDG 14, 3 en 12 hebben een relatie met de plasticsoep.
If you would like to learn more about this subject, read our March 2019 opinion article ‘The Sustainable Development Goals and Fighting the Plastic Soup’ on the international online forum Impakter.
