“We can leverage the power of global business to provide solutions needed to address issues for a sustainable future.”


SAP will participate in the '5th Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee Meeting (INC-5) of the United Nations Convention on Plastics' held in Busan from November 25 to December 1 to explore ways to end plastic pollution and move toward a circular economy.

The UN Plastics Agreement Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meeting aims to develop a binding international agreement to end plastic pollution and accelerate the transition to a circular economy. The fifth meeting is expected to see a final agreement on the agreement.

With plastic pollution expected to double by 2040 if we don’t act aggressively, SAP is helping to power the supply chain systems that manage plastics and materials worldwide today.

In fact, SAP customers account for 87% of global commerce, and for decades, SAP software has played a critical role in helping customers manage the flow of materials, including plastics.

Based on these experiences and insights, SAP believes that collaboration, joint innovation, and effective and smooth communication are necessary to achieve systemic change, and that software and network technologies will play a key role in reducing the information gap and building a plastic circular ecosystem.

“The UN Plastics Convention presents somewhat challenging goals, but SAP can leverage the power of its global business to provide solutions needed to address the issue,” said Stephen Jamieson, head of SAP Sustainability Product Marketing, who visited Korea to attend the conference.

“SAP is ready to help companies quickly identify opportunities to end plastic pollution and scale their impact,” he continued. “SAP already has the processes and systems in place to do so.”

Meanwhile, SAP is leading the way to realize a sustainable future. Last October, more than 20 global companies, including SAP, signed an open letter to world leaders through the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, urging strong regulations to address the plastics problem.

The open letter sets out four key points that companies must agree on at INC-5 to ensure effective implementation of the agreement.

First, △establish global standards for limiting and phasing out hazardous or unnecessary chemicals and plastics, △establish industry-specific approaches and global standards for circular design of plastic products such as packaging, △establish common definitions and core principles for effective implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) systems, and lastly, △give strong authority to oversight bodies to gradually strengthen agreements.

Additionally, on the 22nd, we held an event for C-level business leaders from companies in the Asia-Pacific region together with the World Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and Deloitte, and provided insights for integrating the circular economy into business strategies.