The Global Plastics Treaty and "Plastics Justice"—A Primer
Led by Ocean Program Director Rachel Bustamante, Earth Law Center (ELC) recently released a report entitled “Advancing Ocean Justice in the Global Plastics Treaty.” You can find more information, including links to the full report and a related press release, on ELC’s Ocean Plastics webpage.
In this blog post, we break down some key terms and concepts related to plastic pollution, the Global Plastics Treaty, and plastics justice, ending with ways that anyone can get involved in this critically important issue.
What is the Global Plastics Treaty?
The Global Plastics Treaty (GPT) is an international agreement currently being negotiated at the United Nations (UN), with the treaty process having been launched in March 2022 by a resolution of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA). Its Resolution 5/14 calls for the development of “an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, . . . which could include both binding and voluntary approaches, based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastic.”
This treaty process represents an unprecedented opportunity to address the plastic crisis.
What is the scope of the plastic pollution crisis?
Plastic pollution is severe and widespread. Across their full life cycle (production, distribution, use, and waste), plastics cause damage to people and Nature. For instance, 99% of plastics are made from fossil fuel-based polymers and require greenhouse gas emissions in their production. Then, plastics result in further emissions as they are trucked or shipped to industries and consumers.
Plastics contain harmful chemicals, including known cancer-causing agents (carcinogens), and plastic waste pollutes the environment and can be harmful or deadly to wildlife that ingests plastics or gets tangled in them. Plastic pollution occurs both at the macro-level, such as plastic bags blowing around a city block or discarded fishing nets floating in a river or ocean, and also at the level of microplastics. These tiny plastic particles are now so widespread they have been found in everything from remote alpine raindrops to the bloodstreams of wildlife to a rising percentage of human placentas.
Microplastics have also been found in every ocean basin, and plastics represent a particular threat to ocean life and ecosystems. For a more in-depth take on the research and details of this issue, we suggest reading “An Earth Law Solution to Ocean Plastic Pollution” by Michelle Bender. “Plastic fragments can transport contaminants, increase their environmental persistence, and concentrate organic pollutants up to 106 times that of surrounding seawater,” she writes. “The chemicals present in plastic pollution, such as PCBs, lead to reproductive disorders or death, increase the risk of diseases, and alter hormone levels.”
While plastics impact virtually every ecosystem and human being, it is clear that disproportionate negative impacts occur to the ocean and across race, occupation, ethnicity, class, gender, and age—which leads us to the topic of plastic justice.
What is plastic justice?
The term “plastic justice” points to the reality that the harms caused by the full life cycle of plastics disproportionately impact the ocean and marginalized communities, and so a just response requires attending to those disproportionate impacts.
To take one example: enormous amounts of plastic are dumped into the ocean every year. These plastics not only harm and kill fish and other sea life but also wash up on the shores of island and coastal states, such that impoverished communities suffer the health and economic consequences of plastics they neither produced nor used.
Plastic justice is comprised of three main elements:
the protection of the ocean
the fulfillment of human rights
the progression of social equity
ELC’s report introduces plastic justice in much more detail and maps the communities most burdened by plastic pollution, including Small Island Developing States, Indigenous Peoples, People of Color, the Global South, youth, and other marginalized communities.
How is the Global Plastics Treaty being negotiated?
More than 160 countries participate in the process, which is being overseen by a body called the International Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC). The development of a draft treaty takes place through a process of comment and revision, punctuated by multiple rounds of in-person negotiation.
Three rounds of negotiation, held in Uruguay, France, and Kenya, took place in 2022 and 2023. A fourth (INC-4) will take place in Ottawa, Canada from April 23 to 29, 2024. A fifth and likely final round of negotiations (INC-5) is scheduled for November 5 to December 1 in Busan, South Korea, with plans for treaty adoption in 2025.
What is (and isn’t) in the current draft of the Global Plastics Treaty?
As it stands, the treaty text combines a blend of binding and voluntary targets. Following the last session of negotiations (INC-3), substantial diverging views on the scope and ambition of the agreement caused the now Revised Zero Draft to grow almost three times in size, aiming to accommodate all of the inputs of countries. This means that provisions across the six parts, which cover issues including microplastics, addressing existing pollution, preventing new pollution, a just transition, waste management, and implementation, currently include a range of options for countries to discuss at INC-4.
Though some countries have advocated for limiting the scope of the treaty to cover only pollution or waste management, Resolution 5/14 mandates the agreement cover the full life cycle. Currently, there are no provisions to reduce plastic production at a global level or protect against biodiversity impacts, nor are there numerical targets that mandate a specific timeline for implementation.
Although an international treaty on plastic pollution is an important step and much progress has been made toward it, it’s disheartening to see that the current draft lacks a binding obligation for treaty signatories to protect human rights. It lacks even a single instance of the word “justice,” much less a substantive incorporation of justice principles and human rights.
Earth Law Center's Report: Highlighting the Need for Ocean Justice
ELC’s report, “Advancing Ocean Justice in the Global Plastics Treaty,” emphasizes that ocean justice is crucial for achieving an effective agreement. With the next round of negotiations scheduled for April in Ottawa, Canada (INC-4), this report can serve as a vital advocacy tool, highlighting how the full life cycle of plastics disproportionately harms the ocean and marginalized communities and thus demands a response grounded in justice.
The report includes geographical and sectoral survey findings—highlighting, for instance, that support for including human rights in the final treaty was notably strong among African and Latin American countries, and that large majorities of surveyed representatives of government, nonprofit organizations, academia, and business support using Rights of Nature principles to help guide the treaty. Other recommended principles of law include Indigenous Knowledge, polluter pays, intergenerational equity, and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.
“The importance of embedding justice within this treaty cannot be overstated,” said Rachel Bustamante, Ocean Program Director at ELC. “The plastic life cycle jeopardizes every Sustainable Development Goal, contributes significantly to global climate change, and threatens human rights worldwide. How equitable and just this treaty turns out to be will have undeniable implications for people, the ocean, and truly, the planet.”
What is #Youth4PlasticJustice?
To build continued support and momentum for a Global Plastic Treaty that includes consideration for ocean justice and human rights, Earth Law Center, EarthEcho International, The Ocean Project, and World Ocean Day are planning a series of actions as part of an advocacy campaign called #Youth4PlasticJustice at INC-4, taking place from April 23 to 29, 2024 in Ottawa, Canada.
How can I get involved?
Join the #Youth4PlasticJustice movement:
Raise your voice by helping contribute to a video with a call-out to world leaders at INC-4 to support the inclusion of justice and human rights in the Global Plastics Treaty. Check out these submission details and RECORD AND SUBMIT YOUR VIDEO HERE.
Sign the petitions to demand negotiators advance ocean justice at INC-4 and adopt a strong Global Plastics Treaty.
Follow Earth Law Center, EarthEcho International, and World Ocean Day on social media to learn more and stay up to date on actions.
