Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how he plans to work with international partners to support lower-income countries in meeting Global Plastics Treaty obligations.

We recognise the importance of mobilising support for countries most in need to implement the agreement and that this is an essential element for an effective treaty to end plastic pollution.

The Government supports the use of the Global Environment Facility to support the implementation of the treaty – this will avoid further fragmentation of the environmental financial architecture and to allow for synergies with funding for the related challenges of climate and nature.

The UK has supported developing countries to attend the negotiations and regional consultation meetings, including through a £200,000 uplift ahead of INC-5.2, bringing the total of UK support for the treaty process to £2.2 million. The UK is also the largest donor (£20.5 million) to the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), which bring together governments, businesses, and civil society to tackle plastic pollution and increase investment in the circular economy in ODA-eligible countries. Members across GPAP’s networks have committed a total US$2.9 billion to plastic pollution initiatives as of March 2024.