The final negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty are set to take place in South Korea at the end of November. While the previous negotiations have produced very few decisive outcomes about the Treaty, this meeting will be crucial in deciding how the international community must tackle the issues of plastic pollution. From cutting the production of primary plastics and eliminating toxic plastic chemicals to improving recycling infrastructure, there are many different actions across the lifecycle of plastic to be considered in the final version of the Treaty. While the plastic industry and some governments are more focused on downstream solutions, such as the collection of plastics for recycling and cleanups, others like the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution (which includes Canada) are examining how we can adopt measures to reduce harmful and unnecessary plastics at the source.
Regardless of the content of the Treaty, stakeholders from around the world will need to collaborate in meaningful ways to ensure that everyone achieves the objectives of the Treaty. There are significant differences in capacity as well as resources available to each government to make the changes required by the Treaty. As more economically developed countries are largely responsible for most of the plastic produced for single-use and short-life consumption, as well as the plastic litter in our environment, they will play a key role in working with other parties to establish the supports and systems to eliminate plastic pollution
Three keys ways to collaborate under the Treaty:
Technical capacity and knowledge sharing
According to a recent OECD report, infrastructure must be scaled up to reduce plastic leakage globally. In particular, waste management in less economically developed countries must be enhanced to tackle plastic pollution, as they currently rely heavily on informal waste management practices. As a result, waste collection rates are extremely low. This is compounded by highly economically developed countries sending massive quantities of their unwanted plastic waste to countries without the infrastructure to process it.
As research is conducted and new recycling processes are established, it is crucial that knowledge and findings are shared with all countries to maximize the global impact. This will require economically developed countries to provide technical and operational assistance to others with limited capacity.
Financial resources and burden sharing
Cooperation is essential to counteract the uneven geographical distribution of costs to eliminate plastic pollution. The World Wildlife Fund suggests that the lifetime cost of plastic is 10.6 times higher in low income countries than it is in high income countries. Less economically developed countries, including those such as Pacific and small island developing states, generally face more complex barriers to reduce plastic pollution than countries with the investment capacity to shift their economy to a more circular model. The investment requirements to expand and develop waste management systems in non-OECD countries would amount to more than USD 1 trillion over a 20-year period within a projected global policy framework that is anticipated to truly tackle plastic waste.
It’s clear that to take action against plastic pollution, the associated costs cannot solely be the burden of less economically developed countries. The financial responsibility of adopting new policies and making investments in advancing waste management systems will fall to these countries. Such countries are not only faced with the daunting task of changing their waste systems to accommodate a problem they often didn’t create, but are also the communities most affected by pollution, taking on real-life externalities such as impacts on human well-being, and the loss of tourism and local fisheries. Financial collaboration is key to removing these barriers to meaningful solution-building and participation in the Treaty.
There are several pathways to mobilizing further investment for the reduction of global plastic pollution, as outlined by the OECD:
- Support initiatives to scale up total resources available, particularly from the private sector.
- Allot existing funding according to developed targets, country needs, and priorities.
- Foster innovation and international best practices.
- Promote mutual learning and developing guidance for more effective collaboration.
Global collaboration to ensure treaty is fair and equitable
Governments around the world have already done the difficult work of coming together to agree that plastic pollution must be tackled urgently. They must continue to prioritize collaboration, so that no one gets left behind. Plastic pollution won’t be addressed if action is restricted to specific countries with existing capacity to take steps forward in their own silos. Many highly economically developed countries played a large role in contributing to this problem, shipping plastics to those without the infrastructure or financial means to deal with the consequences of the waste. Corporations must also play a role, as they’ve expanded the market for single-use and created demand for plastics without providing a pathway for that waste to be successfully managed at end-of-life.
Where do we go from here?
A global treaty is only as effective as its members’ commitment to the objectives. There is no one solution for the plastic pollution crisis, which is why it is so important that governments and stakeholders engage on all fronts to do their part, as well as account for their contributions to the problem. Collaboration is a necessary instrument in this process to establish an equitable transition away from plastic pollution, providing us with the tools and opportunities to share resources, capacity, and knowledge in the promotion of a world without plastic pollution.
We’re interested to see how the Treaty will take shape in the coming months. It would be most impactful for governments and stakeholders to work collectively to agree on the upstream interventions required to address plastics as well as the collaborative structures to enable fair and equitable participation from all parties. Stay tuned for more updates on the Treaty and other collaboration opportunities to eliminate plastic pollution!
To learn more about the OECD’s Policy Pathways to 2040, read their most recent report here.
Michelle Brake, Author
Programs and Policy Manager
