The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Vision 2030 aims to make the Nordic region the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. The vision is built on three strategic priorities: a green Nordic Region, a competitive Nordic Region, and a socially sustainable Nordic Region. As part of this vision, the Nordic region also seeks to be a global driving force in the development of a new international agreement on plastic pollution
To help realize this ambition, the Nordic Council of Ministers launched a Vision Project on plastic pollution in 2021. In this project the Nordic countries have collaborated to build knowledge and develop effective means and policy measures to reduce plastics pollution. Plastic and microplasticpollution are among the fastest-growing environmental challenges globally, with plastic waste now found in oceans, freshwater, air, ice, soil, and within living organisms. Addressing this issue requires coordinated action at local, national, and international levels.
The project, which concluded in 2025 after 4.5 years, encompassed a wide range of activities, including:
contribution to the Nordic Coastal Clean-up network;
measures in the event of major accidents involving the discharge of plastic pellets and biocarriers;
preventive measures in the use phase of plastic products;
mapping of indicators for plastic leakage in the plastic value chain;
support for a new global agreement on plastic pollution, including potential criteria to address problematic, unnecessary and avoidable plastic product;
measures addressing lost and abandoned fishing gear;
as well as upstream measures for sustainable management of plastic waste;
support to simple wastewater solutions in Arctic small communities.