As the deadline for the world’s first Global Plastics Treaty approaches, Moms Clean Air Force has our eye on negotiations among UN member states that will continue later this month in Canada. We are pressing for a global agreement to reduce plastics production and to cut toxic air and water pollution at every point in the plastics supply chain.
Tell President Biden: Negotiate a Powerful Global Plastics Treaty
An Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) began working on the treaty in 2022 after the UN Environment Assembly unanimously endorsed a resolution to develop a “legally binding instrument” to end plastic pollution. The INC has hosted three sessions in locations spanning the globe with two more sessions planned for 2024. The next session will take place in Ottawa, Canada, April 23–29, and the final session will begin November 25 in Busan, Republic of Korea. The goal is to have the treaty finalized by the end of 2024.
The development of this treaty could not come at a more pivotal moment. We already have an enormous plastics pollution problem, yet the plastics industry is on track to triple production by 2050. The ubiquity of plastics and other petrochemicals comes at a steep cost to our health, our environment, and our climate. And plastics recycling is not an answer—it’s technically problematic, releases massive amounts of microplastics, and produces higher-toxicity plastics. As our Senior Petrochemical Analyst, Cynthia Palmer, has said, the most viable solution to the plastics problem is “a robust international treaty coupled with strong national actions to rein in plastics production.”
Urging the UN Environment Program to prioritize public health in their negotiations
Back in January 2023, shortly after the close of the first session of the INC, Cynthia penned a letter to the UN Environment Program, identifying key elements Moms would want to see in the global treaty:
“Specifically, we seek an end to plastics pollution at every stage in the supply chain, from fossil extraction to petrochemical processing, manufacture, use, and disposal. The projected tripling of fossil fuel plastics production by 2050 will impose severe health consequences on fence-line communities and will accelerate planetary heating. We support a cap on plastics production with clear timelines for phasing down petrochemical output, while shifting the world to alternative materials, products, and processes.”
In the letter, Cynthia also shared 10 specific measures to be included in the treaty, all aimed at protecting people, the environment, and the climate from plastics pollution.
Calling on President Biden to show leadership
Just last month, as we anticipated the fourth session of the INC, Moms joined the Break Free From Plastics coalition in urging President Biden to take a strong stand in treaty negotiations. In a letter signed by 150 partner organizations, we asked Biden to direct the State Department to negotiate a Global Plastics Treaty that prioritizes public health, human rights, and environmental justice over the interests of the fossil fuel, petrochemical, and plastics industries.
The recent letter to President Biden includes compelling reasons to support the ambitious treaty and outlines specific treaty parameters. Some “must-have” actions include:
- Addressing the full plastics supply chain beginning with fossil extraction;
- Enacting caps on plastics production with binding timelines;
- Phasing out the most dangerous polymers (such as vinyl chloride) and categories of chemicals (such as PFAS and phthalates) in plastics;
- Protecting communities from hazardous air pollution releases and chemical disasters associated with plastics production, transportation, and disposal;
- Offering just transition measures for workers at every step of the process; and
- Rejecting false solutions, like waste-to-fuel and “advanced recycling.”
Finding solutions to plastic pollution is a priority for us here at Moms every day, and the world is turning its attention to this critical issue for Earth Day 2024 with the theme Planet vs. Plastics. Join Moms in holding the Biden administration to account as they negotiate this potentially monumental treaty.
Learn more about Moms’ work on petrochemical pollution.
Tell President Biden: Negotiate a Powerful Global Plastics Treaty