SWITCH-Asia

WHEN:  16 September 2025     I    TIME:  14:00 - 16:00 (Bangkok Time)    I Register  HERE

Background: 

About 460 million tons of plastic are produced annually, over 9 billion tons of plastic since 1950, but less than 15%, even closer to 10%, has ever been recycled or incinerated, leaving most of the plastic in landfills, rivers, shorelines and oceans, causing serious environmental problems for fauna and flora, as well as health problems with the microplastics that humans progressively ingest. The global community has agreed to work on the elaboration of a Global Plastics Treaty, a legally binding international agreement to end plastic pollution. Since March 2022, when a resolution was adopted at the United Nations Environment Assembly, there have been various Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meetings, with the latest negotiation round (INC-5.2) on 5–14 August 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland. Originally planned to take 2 years, the INC is already in its third year, due to the complexity of such consultations for MEA agreed by consensus. The treaty was expected to take a comprehensive, full life-cycle approach, addressing plastic from design and production to disposal and waste management.

The global understanding of the problem has expanded since the UNEA resolution and in the process of the INC meetings, sharpening the focus on the meaning of the life cycle of plastic, as well as plastic’s footprint, from production to disposal, on human health and the environment. However, the balance between upstream measures related to production and downstream measures related to use remains highly debated. There remains a major split between more than 120 countries, led by the High Ambition Coalition, including the EU, and the Like-Minded Group, led by oil-producing states, split between a treaty that focuses on reducing plastic production, and phasing out of toxic chemicals used in plastics, and a treaty that focuses on waste management and recycling. 

However, considering that a majority of countries are aligned on key elements related to SCP and circularity of plastics, actions should not stop because no treaty was agreed upon. It will be important to further advocate and deliver relevant actions at national and regional levels, strengthening collective actions, together with members of the Business Coalition. Voluntary actions are important and should be encouraged, but since this is a global problem, beyond borders, it needs a globally harmonized legislation across the full lifecycle of plastics.

Webinar Session:

The EU SWITCH-Asia Policy Support Component and the European Environment Bureau, are convening the webinar, Taking Stock on the Global Agreement on Plastics: challenges and lessons for a systemic solution, to update Asian and Pacific officials and experts, from public and private about the outcomes of INC negotiations, which failed to produce a Treaty, and discuss pathways and means to further advocate and deliver relevant actions at national and regional levels, strengthening collective actions across the full lifecycle of plastics.

Moderators:

Arab Hoballah, SCP Senior Expert, SWITCH-Asia Policy Support Component and Executive Director, SEED

Arab Hoballah serves, since August 2021, as Executive Director, SEED-Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development, aimed at providing tailored support to eco-inclusive MSMEs with adequate policy frameworks, as key contribution to the transition to green and circular economy, through resource efficiency and SCP. He is also currently a SCP Senior Expert for the Pacific at the EU SWITCH-Asia Policy Support Component. From 2005 to 2016, Arab was Chief of Sustainable Consumption and Production/SCP in UNEP, where he looked for mainstreaming Resource Efficiency and SCP policies at local, national, regional and global levels, through various sectors, various tools and methodologies and relevant partnerships in close cooperation with governments, business and industry, civil society. A major outcome of this work is the 10YFP, the 10 Year Framework of Programmes on SCP, adopted at Rio+20.

Elodie MARIA-SUBE, Expert on EU policy development and partnership building at the SWITCH-Asia Policy Support Component 

Elodie is specialized in European Affairs related to topics of circular economy, SCP, climate change and environmental management, and has extensive experience in stakeholder consultation and engagement at the EU level, as well as with high-level officials in Ministries of Environment and Finance in Asia. For over a decade, Elodie has worked in South and South-East Asia on environment and climate change. She is currently leading the SWITCH-Asia Technical Advisory project on Sustainable/ Green Public Procurement for Transformation.

Speakers

Zinaida FADEEVA, Team Leader, SWITCH-Asia Policy Support Component

Zinaida Fadeeva is the Team Leader of the Policy Support Component of the SWITCH-Asia Programme. Zinaida has over 25 years leading international professional experience in policy for and practice of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and Education for Sustainable Development, amongst others working with the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Studies of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). Her work has focused on diverse topics such as tourism, plastics, construction, small and medium enterprises, procurement and lifestyle. Zinaida has worked extensively with governments, private sector, international organisations and academia in East, South East, South and Central Asia.

Eva BILLE, Head of Circular Economy, European Environment Bureau

Eva is in charge of the EEB activities around circular economy policy. She studied economics and graduated with a Master’s Degree specialising in resources, development and growth from Tilburg University. She has previously spent 10+ years as an EU policy consultant, working with major companies and trade associations in the Brussels bubble. She has also worked for the UN in Lebanon and spent 4 years working in China. 

Agenda