2 June 2023 –  The second session of negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty - aimed at cutting plastic pollution by 80 percent by 2040 - has just ended with a mandate for a first draft, and representatives from nearly 200 countries conducted initial exchanges on how to address plastic production, which predominantly relies on fossil fuels.

While the severity of plastic contamination demands immediate and ambitious actions, discussions first got bogged down in procedural issues and then in the expected opposition between high-ambition countries which want to reduce plastic production in a binding way and nations which want to focus on recycling and voluntary commitments. Unsurprisingly, the latter are major fossil fuel producers, the main substance from which the vast majority of plastics are made of.

Alex Rafalowicz, Director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative, said: “There are constant scientific warnings about the absolute necessity to put an end to fossil fuel production to avoid climate chaos. As fossil fuel companies worldwide are faced with the pressure to wind down production as part of global decarbonisation efforts, the industry is beginning to look at less obvious ways of maintaining its business model and securing continued profits. Petrochemicals are the perfect opportunity to keep Big Oil’s industry alive but at the cost of the planet and people’s health.”

Over 99% of plastics are made from chemicals derived from fossil fuels, responsible for 86% of C02 emissions in the last decade. And global plastics production, which already doubled between 2000 and 2019 to 450 million tonnes, is expected to double again by 2040, making petrochemicals the main driver of global oil demand. 

Tim Grabiel, Senior Lawyer & Policy Advisor with the Environmental Investigation Agency, said: "The rampant production of plastic is destroying our land and seas, threatening our rights to health, food and water, as well as our ability to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C. The plastic pollution crisis and the climate crisis are so deeply linked that they require a bold, global response to tackle their root cause: the production of oil, gas and coal. The adoption of a Global Plastics Treaty is a fundamental step, but this new mechanism needs to take into account the entire life cycle of plastics, which begins with the extraction of fossil fuels to produce plastics at what we all agree are unsustainable levels."

An ambitious Global Plastics Treaty must include obligations across the supply chain, including obligations related to the sourcing and use of fossil fuels as an underlying driver of plastics, as well as a ban on the production of petrochemicals. To be effective, this new plastics treaty will also need to explicitly allow coordination with complementary legal instruments such as the proposed new Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, aimed at phasing-out oil, gas and coal production.

The proposed Fossil Fuel Treaty has been publicly called for by a block of six Pacific countries – Vanuatu and Tuvalu joined by Tonga, Fiji, Niue, and the Solomon Islands – that committed to create a “Fossil Fuel Free Pacific” and “lead the creation of a global alliance to negotiate a” Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. The proposal is also supported by the World Health Organisation, the European Parliament, 101 Nobel Laureates, 600+ parliamentarians in 83 countries,  2,100 civil society organisations from 117 countries, 3,000 scientists and academics and 86 cities and subnational governments.

Rebecca Byrnes, Deputy Director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation initiative, said: “Plastics and fossil fuels are two sides of the same coin. A complementary Fossil Fuel Treaty would provide additional tools to regulate the fossil fuel supply chain, directly benefiting and complementing the objectives of the Plastics Treaty. The proposal already has the support of six Pacific governments who are working towards a binding global treaty regulating all fossil fuels and facilitating a just transition to renewable energy economies and alternatives to fossil fuel-dependent products such as plastics.”