President Lasso announced that Ecuador aspires to host the signing of this important international treaty in 2025 and he reported of in the initiatives Ecuador is implementing against plastic pollution.
Davos, Switzerland. The President of the Republic of Ecuador, Mr. Guillermo Lasso, in his official agenda in Davos, participated on January 17, 2023, in the bilateral panel “Defeating plastic pollution”. At the symposium, he announced Ecuador’s intention to host the Diplomatic Conference and the signing of the legally binding Treaty on plastic pollution, scheduled for early 2025.
“The signing of this historic treaty in our Galapagos Islands is a sign of our commitment to the conservation of natural treasures and the future of humanity.I am sure that all of us here present share the vision of working together, with ambition, effectively, comprehensively, and urgently to counteract this environmental crisis”, said the Head of State.
In this panel, in which he shared the stage with the president of the Swiss Confederation, Alain Berset, both leaders agreed that humanity today faces an urgent challenge: combat the global crisis caused by plastic pollution.
“The will and leadership of our governments are essential in the adoption of national laws and public policies, as well as international agreements that allow us to achieve environmental remediation; the ban on unnecessary, harmful, and toxic plastics; proper and safe waste management; the substitution by sustainable alternatives and the fight against the illegal trade of waste”, said the Ecuadorian President.
Ecuador will chair the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee on plastic pollution from December 2023, until its completion. Within this framework, the country promotes an ambitious and efficient agreements, and promotes the participation of governments, international organizations, scholars, scientists, and representatives of civil society in its construction and implementation.
The negotiation of the said agreement began last November, in Punta del Este, Uruguay, thus complying with the resolution adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly UNEA’5, in March 2022, to end plastic pollution. The process is expected to achieve a treaty in at least five rounds of negotiations.
The President of the Republic of Ecuador also emphasized the advances that Ecuador has made in environmental matters and especially in the fight against pollution generated by this material. “A sample of this is the Organic Law for the rationalization, reuse and reduction of single-use plastics and its regulations”, whose objective is to achieve the established and progressive goals towards reduction.
At the end of the bilateral panel, President Guillermo Lasso concluded that this year Ecuador and Switzerland also share being non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: “International peace and security, as well as the environmental conservation of the planet will find us working together in the coming years”.