LocationsNational Plastic Action Partnerships (NPAPs)
Background
Tackling plastic pollution requires coordinated, system-wide action across the entire plastics value chain. Achieving such transformation depends on inclusive, evidence-based collaboration among governments, businesses, civil society, and development partners.
Launched by the World Economic Forum in 2018, the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) aims to drive systemic change in the global plastics economy. Its country-level platforms – the National Plastic Action Partnerships (NPAPs) – bring together governments, businesses, civil society organisations, and development partners to co-create evidence-based national roadmaps that accelerate progress toward circular and sustainable plastics systems.
Each NPAP works to align policy, investment, and innovation around a shared national roadmap for circularity, supporting countries to reduce plastic leakage, improve waste management, and stimulate new business models that keep plastics in use and out of nature.
Through its Country Offices, UNDP hosts and coordinates the NPAP Secretariats in eight countries, providing institutional backing, policy alignment, and technical support.
Project overview
Lead organisation: Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), hosted by the World Economic Forum
UNDP-supported countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Lao PDR, Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania, Viet Nam
Project status: Ongoing
Total budget: Varies by country
Project objectives
NPAPs act as neutral conveners to catalyse collective action, ensuring that national strategies are inclusive, data-driven, and aligned with broader sustainable development priorities.
Key interventions include:
- Developing and implementing national plastic action roadmaps that guide policy, investment, and innovation toward circularity.
- Conducting baseline assessments and policy analyses to inform evidence-based decision-making.
- Facilitating multi-stakeholder dialogue and partnerships that translate commitments into on-the-ground action.
- Mobilizing financing and resources for priority interventions identified in national roadmaps.
- Sharing lessons and best practices across countries through South–South cooperation and global learning exchanges.
