Progress on a global plastic pollution treaty and the role of fossil fuels and chemical industries: The case for a more formal science engagement process

The current process cannot overcome the opposition of those who block progress at every turn, according to the president of the Center for International Environmental Law.

Forbes said in a statement that governments are allowing fossil fuel producers to shape the negotiations.

The challenge is to come up with a plan that works in cutting plastic and that gets the cooperation of all the countries involved. Big oil and gas producers like China, Russia and Saudi Arabia are at the negotiating table. The United States was the top oil and gas producer of the 21st century and has stated that plastic pollution need to be dealt with “at every stage of the plastic lifecycle.”

The members of the United Nations want to reach an agreement on plastic waste reduction by the end of the century. Plastic production is expected to soar in the coming years, and almost every piece of it is made from chemicals derived from fossil fuels.

“The results this week are no accident,” David Azoulay, program director for environmental health at the Center for International Environmental Law, said in a statement. If Member States don’t address and confront the fundamental reality of industry influence, progress on plastic will be impossible.

Industry lobbyists also have a big presence at the talks. The last round of talks that ended in June saw an increase in the number of lobbyists from the fossil energy and chemical industries.

The talks about a global plastics treaty came to an end with little progress and environmental groups criticized oil and gas producers for blocking a final decision on how to advance the deliberations.

Simon told NPR that “most countries support strong, robust terms for an agreement.” There are a few countries calling for a looser voluntary agreement.

An 11 November letter from a group of scientists calls for a more formal process for integrating science into the treaty. It also asks for the creation of a scientific body, similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, that would provide negotiators and policymakers with regular updates on the scientific evidence surrounding plastic pollution. This body would, for example, assess new research to help update targets and the list of chemicals of concern. “We have clearly called for delegates to establish a credible and transparent science engagement process for the INC,” says Margaret Spring, chief conservation and science officer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, who is lead author of the letter.

The model uses machine learning and incorporates economic and population trends and shows that we have to be ambitious. “A low-ambition treaty would be worse than no treaty at all,” he adds, “because then we are pretending we are solving the problem.”

Ahead of the meeting, McCauley and his colleagues released an online tool that allows policymakers to see the effects on waste. For example, a policy might set a specific cap on plastic production, phase out single-use plastics or regulate the amount of recycled material that must be included in new products. The goal is to figure out how to zero mismanaged waste or close to zero. “I can eliminate 90% of the problem using a very-high-ambition-but-not-impossible package” of policies, he says. “To me, that’s really optimistic.”

Plastic has formed islands in the ocean, been incorporated into reefs on the sea floor and even was found in river beds thanks to this litter. They are also documenting a large number of environmental and health effects from plastic chemicals and microparticles in the air, at sea and on land2. Tiny pieces of plastic have found their way into food, blood and breast milk, with as-yet unclear impacts.

Progress in ratification of the 2024 plastic pollution treaty: Nature and the 21st century report of the Paris Climate Workshop on Plastic Pollution

The meeting that took place last week was the third and final meeting before the aim is to finish the treaty in 2024. The next session will be in Ottawa in April.

The researchers told Nature that progress was disappointing. We are not close to where we need to be because we only have about a year left in this process.

The scientists rallied last week to show their support for the delegates who are working on a global treaty to eliminate plastic pollution.