This critical position shift comes ahead of the INC-5 global plastics treaty negotiations in Busan, South Korea, in November
New York, NY – Reuters reported, and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) confirmed the Biden-Harris Administration’s policy shift to support a global target to reduce plastic production in the global plastics treaty. Ahead of the fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop a legally binding global treaty to “end plastic pollution,” GAIA and other coalition members have been advocating for the strongest possible language, rooted in science and centering the voices of those most impacted by the global plastic crisis.
In response to this recent development, Jessica Roff, GAIA’s US & Canada Regional Plastics & Petrochemicals Program Manager, issued the following statement:
“We’re very encouraged to learn that the US Government is changing its position on key issues, including reducing plastic production, developing a global list of chemicals for phase-out, and establishing global criteria on avoidable plastic products. Not only does this shift make way for a much stronger, globally binding instrument, but it signals that our coalition’s — and especially the frontline, fenceline, Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities at the core — enormous advocacy efforts are gaining more and more traction with our government representatives.”
”This position shift also comes just three and a half weeks after the White House released Mobilizing Federal Action on Plastic Pollution: Progress, Principles, and Priorities–the government-wide strategy targeting plastic pollution at production, processing, use, and disposal–in which the US Government publicly acknowledged for the first time how massive plastic’s detrimental impacts are on human health and the environment at every stage, beginning at extraction.”
“As we said in our Plastics Treaty INC-4 booklet published for the fourth INC, the global plastics treaty provides an unprecedented opportunity to harmonize and raise the bar for local, regional, and national regulations on plastics. It can enable consistent mandatory policy measures to ensure greater transparency, provide science-based and binding criteria, and move us beyond waste management measures to get to the true crux of the issue: production.”
“Now we’re calling on the US Government to make a public statement memorializing these shifts and to take steps to operationalize these ideas, including setting real targets and commitments. We don’t have enough time for statements of ideas. Now, we need government action to solidify a strong and ambitious treaty.”
GAIA members have long advocated for policies that move beyond waste management solutions and address the systemic issues driving the production and proliferation of plastics. GAIA will continue to work with environmental justice communities globally to urge member states to commit to a legally binding plastics treaty that focuses on reducing plastic production.
The fifth and so-far final session of the INC-5 will be held in Busan, Republic of Korea, from November 25 to December 1, 2024, as mandated by United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) Resolution 5/14, adopted in March 2022.
Contact:
Maria Guillen, Communications Coordinator, US & Canada
mariaguillen@no-burn.org | +1 609 553 4569
References:
For more information about GAIA’s treaty advocacy, please visit no-burn.org/unea-plastics-treaty, follow us on X @gaianoburn, and read our Press kit.
