Plastic summit could be most important green deal since Paris accords, says UN

World leaders to gather in Nairobi next week to discuss first global treaty to combat plastic waste

World leaders will come together online and in Nairobi, Kenya, next week, in what is described as a critical moment" in progress towards the first ever global treaty to combat plastic waste. Inger Andersen, director of the UN Environment Programme, said an agreement at the UN environment assembly could be the most important multilateral pact since the Paris climate accord in 2015.

Public disgust and impatience over the growing mountain of plastic waste has led to an unprecedented degree of focus" that could see member states agreeing a blueprint for a legally binding treaty to control plastics from source to sea", she said.