Global Treaty to End Plastic Pollution

Majority Agrees. Nature Must Win. Stop Plastic Pollution. This is our last best chance to stop plastic pollution now

The majority agrees—governments, businesses, and the public are calling for an ambitious treaty that nature needs.

> 103 countries supported all four must-haves in the treaty

> Over 175 nations agree that we must unite and ratify a global treaty to end plastic pollution

> Over 250 businesses agree that we need a shared set of global rules to end plastic pollution

> Of the nearly 3 million people calling for a strong binding global plastic pollution treaty, 474,404 are WWF supporters

> 85% of people want a global ban on single-use plastics

About the Global Plastics Treaty

Overview

Plastic is an essential part of our everyday lives. Every year, the world produces over 462 million tons of plastic. While plastic can be a useful material, 90% of it pollutes our planet. This is particularly true of single-use items such as plastic cutlery, packaging, and microplastics, which break off of larger pieces of plastic like textiles. Currently, an estimated 9 million to 14 million tons of plastic waste ends up in our oceans each year. Plastic waste has been found in all areas of the globe, from the deepest seas to the most remote mountains. It causes major harm to wildlife and ecosystems, disrupts the livelihood of millions of people, and poses significant risks to human health and the world economy.

From people and wildlife to the communities and habitats they call home, solving the plastic pollution crisis is a challenge we all share. We need this for ourselves and for our world.

At the current rate, global plastic pollution could triple by 2040 unless we take immediate action. Voluntary measures and country-driven efforts have proven ineffective in stopping plastic from polluting and poisoning our planet, and it’s only getting worse. Over the past five years, the number of national and voluntary actions to tackle the problem has increased by 60%. Despite this, plastic pollution has continued to increase by 50%.

The Solution

Support for ending plastic pollution:

85% support a ban on single-use plastics.
90% support a ban on hazardous chemicals used in plastics.
87% support reducing global plastic production.
85% of Americans somewhat or strongly agree that plastic waste pollution is a serious and concerning problem that requires immediate political action to solve.

The solution is a new set of legally binding and equitable global agreements that define the tangible steps and timelines necessary to change how we produce and consume high-risk plastic.

This must include:

Phasing out all unnecessary plastic products that pose a high pollution risk, including single-use items and excessive packaging.
Establishing binding and specific design requirements for plastic products that lead to a decrease in plastic consumption.
Matching strong binding measures with ambitious mechanisms to enable effective implementation and a just transition, including robust technical and financial assistance.

In March 2022, the UN Environmental Assembly convened in Nairobi, Kenya, to debate the global plastic crisis. In a historic move, 175 nations voted to adopt a global treaty for plastic pollution—agreeing on an accelerated timeline so that the treaty could be implemented as soon as 2025.

The unique potential of a global, United Nations-led treaty is to hold all countries to a high common standard on plastic consumption and create a clear path toward a future free from plastic pollution. This will create a level playing field that incentivizes and supports national actions.

The power of moving beyond fragmented national plans is demonstrated by other successful environmental agreements. For example, through unified global bans, the Montreal Protocol has phased out more than 99% of ozone-depleting substances since its establishment, setting the ozone layer on a gradual path to recovery.

We must move quickly: During the first two-year negotiation period of the plastics treaty, total plastic pollution in the ocean is expected to increase by 15%. Ending plastic pollution is in our grasp, and the treaty negotiations are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do so.

Towards a Global Treaty to End Plastic Pollution

2025

TBD: A continuation of the INC-5 negotiations—INC 5.2—will take place in 2025.

2024

November: The fifth intergovernmental negotiation meeting, INC-5, took place in Busan, South Korea.

April: The fourth intergovernmental negotiation meeting, INC-4, for the treaty took place in Ottawa, Canada. The meeting saw further development of rules to prohibit problematic and avoidable plastic products, but left open whether the treaty will include measures to reduce production and consumption of plastics. To ensure the stage is set for INC-5 and to secure a successful treaty by the end of 2024, there is a mandate for the chair to produce a new, updated zero draft and an agreement by all countries to conduct formal intercessional work (between INC-4 and INC-5) to advance negotiations and make progress on key decisions.

2023

November: The third intergovernmental negotiation meeting, INC-3, took place in Nairobi, Kenya. The majority of INC-3 was spent in procedural delays with delegates spending the negotiations drafting additional text to be added to the previously published 'zero draft.’

September: The much anticipated 'zero draft' was published. This comprehensive first draft of the global plastic pollution treaty would set the stage for the upcoming negotiations at INC-3 in November.

June: The second intergovernmental negotiation meeting, INC-2, took place in Paris, France. 134 governments called for common, global rules for plastics across its entire lifecycle, and a mandate for developing a 'zero draft' of the treaty was secured.

2022

November: The first intergovernmental negotiating meeting (INC-1) took place in Punta del Este, Uruguay. During the meeting, more than 145 countries publicly supported establishing strong global rules to stop plastic pollution.

August: Norway and Rwanda (joined by 18 other countries) initiate and launch the "High Ambition Coalition" to end plastic pollution by 2040.

March: More than 2.2 million individuals sign WWF's plastics petition. The petition is presented to The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA)’s president and Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment, Espen Barth Eide, during conference in Nairobi.
A historic moment—UN Member States adopt Resolution 5/14, titled “End Plastic Pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument”.

January: More than 70 leading businesses and financial institutions call on governments to develop and adopt a comprehensive and robust legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.

2021

December: Over 700 civil society groups and nongovernmental organizations from 113 countries sign a Civil Society Manifesto, urging UN Member States to negotiate a legally binding plastic treaty.

November:During COP22 in Barcelona, Spain, the Mediterranean countries declared their support for a global plastics treaty. With this, 156 countries (more than two-thirds of the UN's member states) have since expressed their official support for a global agreement to stop plastic litter.

June: The UN Ocean Day Declaration on Plastic Pollution is launched in New York, after the Alliance of Small Island States (74 states) requested that negotiations begin on a new legally binding global plastics agreement.

2020

October: A group of 29 global companies launch a business manifesto calling for a new treaty on plastic pollution. [This comes after the Boston Consulting Group, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and WWF published a report on the business case for a new plastic pollution treaty, which highlighted the potential gains of a harmonized global set of rules on plastic pollution.

EU member states commit at the ministerial level to work for a new global agreement against plastic litter.

July: 55 countries set up a group at the UN headquarters in New York to put a new global agreement in place. Norway, Maldives, Antigua, and Barbuda take on the responsibility of leading the group.

2019

November: African Ministers of Environment commit to work at a global agreement on plastic pollution in a joint policy message.

August: The leaders of the Pacific countries commit to work toward a global agreement to stop plastic in the ocean.

July: 15 Caribbean countries adopt a declaration on plastic litter, calling for a global agreement against plastic in the ocean.

April: The Nordic countries (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland) adopt a Nordic plastic declaration, in which they advocate a new global agreement against plastic in the ocean.

March: At the UN Environment Assembly's meeting in Nairobi, a majority of states agreed to further work to establish a global agreement against plastic in the ocean.

2018

The expert group meets twice in 2018 (in Nairobi, Kenya and Geneva, Switzerland) resulting in a majority of government experts recommending the exploration of a potential global binding agreement.

2017

December: The United Nationas Environment Assembly establishes an expert group to explore potential global actions to support the long-term elimination of marine litter and plastic pollution. WWF, together with other environmental groups, puts forward (for the first time) the idea of a global and binding agreement against plastic pollution.

Down but not out

WWF's Erin Simon on the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations in November 2024

About WWF