By Saidu Jalloh, Daily Scope Reporter
During the Informal Ministerial Roundtable on Plastic Pollution in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, Sierra Leone’s Deputy Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Madam Mima Yeama Sobba-Stephens, urged for urgent national and international action to address the escalating crisis of plastic pollution. The roundtable was part of the second segment of the fifth session of the UN Environment Programme’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2), chaired by UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.
The INC-5.2 meeting, taking place from August 5 to 14, aims to advance negotiations towards a legally binding international treaty focused on mitigating plastic pollution and its detrimental effects on marine ecosystems.
In her remarks, Madam Sobba-Stephens emphasized the need for a globally binding treaty that can be effectively integrated into national legal frameworks to ensure sustainable outcomes. “Sierra Leone remains committed to achieving an outcome that reflects our shared aspirations and delivers tangible benefits for the global community,” she stated, highlighting the country’s active participation in negotiations despite its limited resources.
She outlined several key national initiatives:
- Completion of a baseline assessment of marine litter, material flow analysis, and a plastic policy gap analysis, culminating in a strategic roadmap to support the treaty.
- Introduction of a Green Labelling scheme in the hospitality sector to acknowledge tourism operators who are reducing single-use plastics (SUP).
The Deputy Minister advocated for the treaty to encompass both upstream plastic production and chemical use, as well as downstream waste management, while also considering the varying capacities of different countries.
“Let us work together to deliver an ambitious, inclusive, and implementable instrument—one that marks this moment as a historic turning point in the fight against plastic pollution,” she concluded.
Additionally, Madam Sobba-Stephens participated in the Informal Ministerial Dialogue on Investment Opportunities for a Circular Economy in the context of the global plastic treaty.
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