Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever, and Ikea led over 70 brands in issuing a joint statement calling for a global treaty against plastic pollution that would include limiting the production of the material.
According to the group, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2) that begins next month with government officials gathering to begin talks on a treaty on plastic pollution, is the decisive, most auspicious moment to turn the tide on the global plastic pollution crisis.
The negotiations are expected to face resistance from big oil and chemical firms and major plastic-producing countries.
In November, a study revealed that the world had generated over 8 million tons of COVID-19 outbreak-related plastic waste, with over 25,000 tons of plastic polluting the world's oceans since the pandemic began.