Plastic pollution is no longer just an environmental issue—it’s a global crisis affecting every corner of our planet. It chokes our oceans, poisons our soil and drinking water, and even infiltrates our bodies in the form of microplastics. This World Environment Day 2025 calls on everyone – governments, businesses, and citizens to act decisively to end plastic pollution.
For the Southeast Europe Leadership for Development and Integrity (SELDI) network, this year’s theme, #BeatPlasticPollution, highlights a powerful truth: we can’t protect the environment without first addressing corruption and poor governance. Across Southeast Europe, weak institutions, loopholes in public procurement, and limited oversight often allow harmful environmental practices to continue unchecked. Ending plastic pollution requires not only innovation and responsible consumption, but also strong, transparent institutions that uphold environmental laws and ensure public funds are used for the common good.
SELDI supports anti-corruption reforms and works to build integrity across public systems, enabling more effective environmental policies, better investment in sustainable alternatives, and stronger public engagement. Through regional cooperation, SELDI helps create resilient governance systems that can enforce environmental standards and earn the trust of citizens. These efforts are vital for ensuring that environmental initiatives are not just words on paper, but realities felt in local communities.
This year’s campaign is more than just a call to reduce plastic use, but rather a call for deep, structural change. SELDI urges all actors to commit to both environmental protection and integrity-driven governance. Reducing plastic waste must go hand in hand with ending backroom deals and weak oversight in environmental policy. It means investing in green technologies and empowering citizens to hold leaders accountable for the environmental decisions that shape our future.
Looking ahead, the momentum around a potential global treaty to end plastic pollution offers the region a valuable opportunity. SELDI believes that the region should not only support such efforts but also lead by example. That means integrating environmental goals with anti-corruption commitments, improving data transparency on plastic waste management, and ensuring that all citizens, including youth, women, and marginalized groups, are part of the dialogue and solution. Environmental protection should never be a privilege for the few, it must be a collective effort grounded in fairness, accountability, and integrity.
SELDI encourages all stakeholders to take part in this year’s campaign – not just by reducing plastic use, but by advocating for systemic change that ensures environmental policies are fair, transparent, and enforceable. Let’s transform the fight against plastic pollution into a movement for clean governance, sustainable ecosystems, and inclusive development.
