India Leads Global Initiative to Combat Pesticide and Plastic Pollution, Supported by a $379 Million Fund

India, in collaboration with Ecuador, Kenya, Laos, the Philippines, Uruguay, and Vietnam, has joined hands to launch an initiative aimed at tackling pollution caused by pesticides and plastics. This significant step involves a $379 million fund. Chemical agriculture plays a major role, with nearly 4 billion tons of pesticides and 12 billion kilograms of agricultural plastic used annually. Despite their role in food production, these chemicals pose substantial risks to both human health and the environment. Pesticides alone cause approximately 11,000 deaths annually and can harm ecosystems, diminishing soil health and farmers' ability to adapt to climate change. Additionally, the burning of agricultural plastics worsens air pollution, a leading cause of one in nine global deaths.

Highly toxic pesticides and poorly managed agricultural plastics continuously release harmful organic pollutants, contaminating air, water, and food. 
These options are often cheaper than sustainable alternatives, offering little incentive for farmers to adopt better practices. The Global Environment Facility (GEF), in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) under the Finance Agrochemical Reduction and Management Program (FARM), aims to address this issue by broadening the business case for banks and policymakers and providing financial support to farmers to transition to less toxic and non-chemical alternatives.

The five-year program targets the prevention of over 51,000 tons of hazardous pesticides and 20,000 tons of plastic waste from being released. It also aims to reduce emissions by 35,000 tons of carbon dioxide and conserve over 3 million hectares of land from degradation caused by agricultural activities.