More than 170 countries agreed on Thursday to pursue a legally binding treaty that will address the full life-cycle of plastic, which has degraded and contaminated every ecosystem on earth.
Supporters say the deal has the potential to rival the Paris climate pact and 1989 agreement that phased out ozone-depleting substances in terms of significance.
Work on the treaty will now begin and it should be ready for UN members to ratify by 2024.
The intention is to create global rules and obligations for every stage of the plastic life-cycle, with the primary ambitions of cutting production, consumption and pollution.
Kate Noble leads WWF-Australia's campaign against plastic and closely observed negotiations that led to Thursday's agreement at the United Nations Environment Assembly meeting in Nairobi.
She says it is the world's best shot so far at dealing with an insidious contaminant that is choking the land and the sea, killing wildlife and entering food chains. But she says the pathway to a strong treaty will be complex and contentious.
"We're hoping to see global standards, rules, obligations and a means of enforcing those in the final treaty," she says.
"There are many organisations who think a cap on virgin plastic production should be part of this agreement, that global approaches towards banning certain items, like single use plastics, should be part of this agreement."
She says there's certainly a risk the world could end up with treaty that does not solve the crisis.
"That's absolutely a risk. That's why we really need everyone who has gotten us to this point to maintain and increase their level of effort, and scrutiny on this process."
The Australian Marine Conservation Society's plastic pollution expert Shane Cucow says Australia must take a lead role in negotiations to ensure the treaty is ambitious and binding.
"A global agreement to phase out unnecessary plastics worldwide, with financial support to manage plastic pollution in the nations who need it most, would mean less plastic polluting Australia's remote coasts and oceans."
A recent progress report by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation found the nation was not on track to meet national packaging targets.
One key target is for 70 per cent of plastic packaging to be recycled or composted by 2025. But in 2019-20, the most recent figure reported, the figure was sitting at 16 per cent.
Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley said the government was investing in a circular economy, and had banned the export of unprocessed waste plastic.
"The move by member nations to adopt a legally binding agreement is the start of a global push to tackle this problem but we know there is more to do," she said in a statement.
"Our oceans are part of our national identity and critical to the daily lives of millions of Australians - ensuring our shared oceans are clean and healthy is both a national and regional responsibility for Australia."
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