India bats for banning single-use plastic at UN

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Taking a significant lead, India has piloted resolutions on two important global environment issues related to single-use plastics and sustainable nitrogen management at the UN Environment Assembly.

Both resolutions were adopted with consensus on Friday evening. "We will address the damage to our eco-systems caused by the unsustainable use and disposal of plastic products, including by significantly reducing single-use plastic products by 2030, and we will work with the private sector to find affordable and environmentally friendly products," the ministers said in a final declaration at the UN Assembly, the world's top environmental body whose decisions will set the global agenda, notably ahead of the UN Climate Action Summit in September.

After five days of negotiations at the Fourth UN Environment Assembly in this Kenyan capital, ministers from more than 170 UN member states delivered a bold blueprint for change, saying the world needed to speed up moves towards a new model of development in order to respect the vision laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.

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