U.N. taking first step toward "historic" treaty on pollution from plastics, including "epidemic" of plastic trash

The United Nations was launching formal negotiations Wednesday on a global treaty to address the planet's "epidemic" of plastic trash -- a move supporters describe as historic.

The U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA), convening in Nairobi, Kenya, was poised to adopt a resolution creating an intergovernmental committee to negotiate and finalize a legally binding agreement by 2024.

"This is a day for the history books," said Norway's climate and environment minister, Espen Barth Eide, who chairs UNEA. "We are about to embark on an extremely important process of negotiating a solid treaty to ban plastic pollution."