160+ Organizations Urge World Leaders to Commit to Reducing Plastic Production in Global Treaty
As Ministers and Heads of State gather in New York for the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and Climate Week, over 160 organizations are urging world leaders to commit to a plastics treaty that curbs and reduces plastic production.
In a letter addressed to high-ranking officials, these groups demand stronger action as discussions surrounding the global plastics treaty intensify.
The letter, issued ahead of a series of high-level, closed-door meetings, calls for decisive measures to address the full lifecycle of plastics, emphasizing the urgent need to reduce virgin plastic production. These meetings come just weeks before the final session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5), which aims to finalize the treaty.
Despite recent commitments from the G7 and potential shifts in the U.S. position, there are concerns that negotiators may weaken key provisions on plastic production through political compromises.
The organizations argue that any treaty lacking legally binding targets for reducing plastic production will fail to tackle the root of plastic pollution, threatening global climate goals and public health.
Daniela Duran Gonzalez, Senior Legal Campaigner at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), stressed that “making more plastic will undermine global climate efforts and endanger human and environmental health. Ministers should push for concrete measures to control and reduce production by the end of negotiations.”
The groups highlight the alarming projection that plastic production could triple in the coming decades, consuming up to a third of the remaining carbon budget by 2050. With over 1,400 new fossil fuel-based projects set to expand production capacity by 2027, the disproportionate harm to Indigenous Peoples and frontline communities near production sites is expected to worsen.
Swathi Seshadri, Director of Research and Team Lead for Oil and Gas at the Centre for Financial Accountability, warned that “if world leaders fail to act now, communities around the world will suffer from the toxic effects of unchecked plastic production.”
The letter calls for a global target to reduce plastic production, paired with mandatory national pathways to achieve these reductions. Civil society and Indigenous representatives have made it clear that production limits must be part of the treaty, and are closely monitoring the ongoing negotiations.
World leaders are being urged to seize this moment and take decisive action to address plastic production before it’s too late.
Contact:
Cate Bonacini, press@ciel.org, +1-510-520-9109
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