WEBINAR: Toward a Global Plastics Treaty

Plastic pollution and overproduction of chemicals and plastics is a growing global crisis, with devastating harm to the environment, human health, human rights, biodiversity, and the climate.

At the end of November, delegates from around the world will convene in Busan, South Korea for the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) to draft a global legally binding treaty on plastics. This is the final scheduled negotiating session before adopting the treaty’s final text, expected in early 2025.

Concerns are rising among Indigenous Peoples, frontline communities, scientists, and other representatives of civil society about the involvement of the fossil fuel and chemical industries, whose interests are in direct conflict with treaty objectives. An analysis of INC-4 participants based on UNEP’s provisional list found a 37% increase in industry lobbyists at INC-4 compared to INC-3, with fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists outnumbering the combined 180 representatives of the European Union delegations.

The tensions between corporate interests and the treaty’s objectives are clear. An open letter from Greenpeace, signed by over 170 civil society organizations and scientists, urges UNEP and the INC to adopt a strong conflict of interest policy to protect the treaty from industry influence. While lobbyists appear on country delegations and gain access to Member State-only sessions, Indigenous Peoples representatives and nongovernmental organizations are not granted access to these sessions and are given limited time to speak.

On Tuesday, November 12, at 9:00 am (AKST),  1:00 PM central time, CHE-Alaska will host a webinar with Yuyun Ismawati, Frankie Orona, and Dr. Martin Wagner. This webinar will explore who has had a “seat at the table” during the course of negotiations and highlight the need to prioritize the voices of frontline communities, Indigenous Peoples, and independent scientists.

Frankie Orona, Executive Director of the Society of Native Nations, will discuss the representation of Indigenous Peoples throughout the negotiating process.

Yuyun Ismawati, co-chair of IPEN and co-founder and Senior Advisor of the Nexus3 Foundation, will focus on the representation of impacted communities living on the frontlines of plastic pollution, especially in the Global South.

Dr. Martin Wagner, Associate Professor for environmental toxicology at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology and member of the Scientists’ Coalition, will discuss the petrochemical industry’s influence and the challenges faced by independent scientists.