In Nov. 2023, negotiators from over 170 nations agreed on a draft of The UN Plastic Treaty, which aims to be the first-ever international, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.
Treaty negotiators will meet again in the fall of 2024 for more negotiations, with the goal of finalizing the treaty text by the end of 2024.
The draft treaty text was pushed through by the global south and island nations that are disproportionately impacted by plastics pollution. But the treaty still faces many obstacles. Debate centers on how the treaty will impact waste workers and how quickly we can reduce plastic production.
Now is the time to insist that U.S. negotiators ensure a strong and enforceable treaty.
Tell U.S. negotiators that the United States must:
Support a strong UN Plastic Treaty with mandatory, ambitious, scientifically based, and enforceable control measures and obligations to ensure results and accountability.
And that the final treaty must:
Center environmental justice concerns in the negotiations of the UN Plastic Treaty.
Prioritize the reduction of plastic production, with a rapid phase-out the most harmful plastics and additives (such as microplastics).
Reduce plastic production by ceasing to permit new or expanded facilities and infrastructure.
Ensure solutions to plastic production, pollution, and waste management are science-based as well as environmentally just and sound.
Guarantee a just transition for waste collection and plastic manufacturing workers.