- Current plastic pollution treaty texts don't go far enough toward ending pollution but there is still time for governments to agree on a strong treaty by focusing on the most urgent and impactful core measures.
- Measures that must be included, and which already enjoy majority support, are global bans for the most harmful plastic products and chemicals, global product design requirements, alignment of financial flows for supporting implementation, and mechanisms for strengthening the treaty over time.
- If such measures are not included in the treaty, the world faces an exponential increase in plastic pollution, which threatens nature and people alike.
Coming on the heels of lackluster performances at two major global environmental summits on nature and climate, INC-5 - the fifth and final round of negotiations for a treaty aimed at ending plastic pollution - is a critical opportunity for governments to inspire hope for the future and turn around this year's so far bleak mandate on the state of our environment by establishing a strong and effective global plastic pollution treaty.
WWF warns that unless governments get serious in streamlining processes and agreeing on making specific core measures globally mandatory, world leaders will not be able to deliver on their promise two years ago to create a binding instrument that can end plastic pollution.
"At its core, plastic pollution is a non-partisan issue - evident by the vast majority of countries who have called for decisive measures to tackle the primary drivers of this crisis," said Erin Simon, Vice President and Head of Plastic Waste and Business, WWF-US. "In the final round of treaty negotiations, countries must come to the table ready to deliver the most ambitious treaty possible, prioritizing binding commitments that will move us toward a just transition and a brighter future. The world is watching, now is the moment for our leaders to put differences aside and let nature win."
In particular, WWF urges governments to include in the treaty explicit text to ban and phase out the most harmful plastic products and chemicals of concern; mandatory product design requirements to ensure remaining products are safe and easy to reuse and recycle; identify the level of funding that governments need to commit and how such resources will be disbursed; and mechanisms for strengthening the treaty over time.
If such measures are not mandated globally, projected increases in plastic production by 2050 could account for 21-30% of the world's carbon emission budget required to limit global warming to 1.5°C. This adds pressure on an already tenuous undertaking to stop the planet's temperature from breaching a threshold beyond which many species may perish. Regulating and reducing plastic production and consumption through binding global bans and design requirements that ensure the circularity of high-risk products can therefore yield enormous benefits that would reduce the demand of virgin plastic production and could give the planet a fighting chance at keeping global warming below the crucial 1.5°C threshold.
By WWF's count, a majority of governments have already called for, or support such measures². It's a question of whether they will keep their promises.
"To protect current and future generations from a world overwhelmed by plastic pollution and the unequal burden it places on the most vulnerable communities, we need binding global rules. Negotiators have the backing of not only scientific evidence, but also a majority of governments, citizens and businesses that a global treaty with legally binding obligations, and not voluntary guidelines, is the only way to end the global plastic pollution crisis. This is absolutely possible. Negotiators must prioritize the most urgent and essential measures so we can get to the heart of the issue - what a strong treaty should include - faster and more impactfully," said Kirsten Schuijt, Director General, WWF International.
WWF urges governments to reject any attempts at watering down or excluding core measures that must be included in the treaty. Should disputes arise or if a treaty borne out of consensus yields weak measures, governments must be willing to vote to get the treaty that we need.
Ahead of the negotiations next week (November 25 to December1), the INC-5 Chair has published a streamlined "non-paper" text. This text creates a basis for negotiations that allows governments to focus discussions and prioritizes the measures that must be included in the treaty within INC-5's short time frame of a week.
"The majority of governments have been calling for the right measures, and at INC-5, they need to turn these words into action by cementing such measures in the treaty text unambiguously. There can be no room for alternative interpretations, borne out of certain governments' economic self-interests, to take precedence over the health and safety of the world. Those that want a strong treaty must therefore push ahead with one, even if this means not all governments will ratify it, or be ready to take the decision to another forum. A treaty with binding measures supported by the majority of governments will be far more effective than a voluntary-based treaty supported by all governments," said Eirik Lindebjerg, Global Plastics Policy Lead and Head of Delegation for WWF at INC-5.
For the eventual treaty to be fit for purpose, governments must include several core measures, currently only included as placeholders in the "non-paper". In addition, governments must use stronger language to denote when clear-cut actions such as global and legally binding bans must be mandatory. This is to ensure the treaty does not revert to business-as-usual practices of only implementing voluntary national initiatives, which have dominated our collective response over the last three decades yet yielded little success.
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WWF event: "Delivering A Treaty that Nature Needs: Powered by Solutions and Shared Ambition"
A day (November 24) before INC-5 opens, WWF will host an event showcasing solutions to plastic pollution from business, finance, civil society and science fields along with prominent voices from the Global South that demonstrate why and how implementation of a strong global plastic pollution treaty is feasible.
The event will also feature the delivery of a petition signed by millions of people worldwide calling for a legally binding global plastic pollution treaty. Representing the wishes of millions of concerned citizens, child activists from the Republic of Korea, Hannah Kim, eight, and Jeah Han, 12, along with renowned poet Nikita Gill will hand the petition to INC-5's Chair, Luis Vayas Valdivieso.
Kim and Han are part of a group of activists who successfully waged a four-year long climate suit against the Republic of Korea's government for failing to protect the rights of future generations and passing an excessive burden to them. Their win means the Republic of Korea's national assembly must now set legally binding greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2031-2049 by February 2026, a landmark ruling that marked a significant victory for climate action in Asia. INC-5 will be held in Busan, Republic of Korea.
Irish-Indian Gill, known for her heartfelt poems, is Britain's most-followed poet on social media with devoted fans ranging from celebrities like Alannis Morissette to award-winning novelists like Monique Roffey.
WWF's "Delivering A Treaty that Nature Needs: Powered by Solutions and Shared Ambition" will be held on Sunday, 24 November, 5-8pm local time, at The Westin Josun, in Busan, Republic of Korea. This is an in-person, invite-only event (no live streaming available). If you'd like to attend, please register your interest here.
