Draft Text Of End Plastic Pollution Treaty Must Adhere To Principle Of Common But Differentiated Responsibility: Union Minister Bhupender Yadav

New Delhi: India wants that the draft text of an international treaty to end plastic pollution must adhere to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Monday (June 5). The UN’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution held its second meeting in Paris recently as the world makes an attempt to develop a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution.

The meeting ended with a decision that the INC secretariat should work on a zero draft and present it to the member states. The draft text will become the basis of discussions in the third meeting of the INC to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, in November.

Also Read: Plastic Pollution A Global Environmental Crisis: NGT Chairperson Justice A K Goel 

Addressing an event on World Environment Day, Minister Yadav said India is constructively engaging in the intergovernmental negotiations over the draft text but is “emphasising” that it should adhere to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. Common but differentiated responsibilities is a principle that emerged from international environmental agreements. It recognises that while all countries share a common responsibility to address global environmental challenges, their responsibilities may differ based on their historical contributions to environmental issues and their current capabilities.

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NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.