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Towards a Global Plastics Treaty: Tracing the UN Negotiations

Dreyer, Elin ; Hansen, Teis ; Holmberg, Karl LU orcid ; Olsen, Tara LU and Stripple, Johannes LU (2024)
Abstract
In 2022, the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA) adopted resolution 5/14, giving mandate to UN Member States to start negotiations toward an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. This report delves into the pre-session submissions by states and coalitions for the second (INC-2) and third (INC-3) rounds of negotiations, held in 2023. Once the contents of the documents had been reviewed, a coding analysis was conducted with the aim of understanding the current policy mix being proposed for the Plastics Treaty. The nine categories to emerge from the coding process cover proposed objectives for the treaty, types and range of measures proposed, and where along the value chain these measures fall. Our results... (More)
In 2022, the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA) adopted resolution 5/14, giving mandate to UN Member States to start negotiations toward an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. This report delves into the pre-session submissions by states and coalitions for the second (INC-2) and third (INC-3) rounds of negotiations, held in 2023. Once the contents of the documents had been reviewed, a coding analysis was conducted with the aim of understanding the current policy mix being proposed for the Plastics Treaty. The nine categories to emerge from the coding process cover proposed objectives for the treaty, types and range of measures proposed, and where along the value chain these measures fall. Our results show: (1) that the pre-session submissions give considerable attention to improving waste management and extending recycling infrastructure, while scant attention is given to upstream measures; (2) that relatively few economic measures have been proposed thus far, with pre-session submissions focusing on regulatory and soft measures instead; (3) that this uneven distribution of proposed measure types could weaken the overall effectiveness of the instrument by impeding its ability to address the issue of plastic pollution in all its complexity; (4) that, if current trends continue, we can expect a treaty focused on waste management and recycling, instead of one addressing the full life cycle of plastics; (5) and finally, that the sheer quantity of plastics being produced each year undermines any efforts either to ‘end’ plastic pollution or to reach any net-zero carbon emission targets. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Book/Report
publication status
published
subject
pages
36 pages
publisher
Lund University
ISBN
978-91-7895-993-8
978-91-7895-993-8
project
STEPS – Sustainable Plastics and Transition Pathways, Phase 2
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
940cfb3b-59e6-46f1-a47a-c5127ff262b6
date added to LUP
2024-03-11 15:46:07
date last changed
2024-03-12 07:42:20
@techreport{940cfb3b-59e6-46f1-a47a-c5127ff262b6,
  abstract     = {{In 2022, the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA) adopted resolution 5/14, giving mandate to UN Member States to start negotiations toward an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. This report delves into the pre-session submissions by states and coalitions for the second (INC-2) and third (INC-3) rounds of negotiations, held in 2023. Once the contents of the documents had been reviewed, a coding analysis was conducted with the aim of understanding the current policy mix being proposed for the Plastics Treaty. The nine categories to emerge from the coding process cover proposed objectives for the treaty, types and range of measures proposed, and where along the value chain these measures fall. Our results show: (1) that the pre-session submissions give considerable attention to improving waste management and extending recycling infrastructure, while scant attention is given to upstream measures; (2) that relatively few economic measures have been proposed thus far, with pre-session submissions focusing on regulatory and soft measures instead; (3) that this uneven distribution of proposed measure types could weaken the overall effectiveness of the instrument by impeding its ability to address the issue of plastic pollution in all its complexity; (4) that, if current trends continue, we can expect a treaty focused on waste management and recycling, instead of one addressing the full life cycle of plastics; (5) and finally, that the sheer quantity of plastics being produced each year undermines any efforts either to ‘end’ plastic pollution or to reach any net-zero carbon emission targets.}},
  author       = {{Dreyer, Elin and Hansen, Teis and Holmberg, Karl and Olsen, Tara and Stripple, Johannes}},
  institution  = {{Lund University}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-7895-993-8}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  title        = {{Towards a Global Plastics Treaty: Tracing the UN Negotiations}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/173635177/Dreyer_et_al._2024_-_Towards_a_Global_Plastics_Treaty_-_Tracing_the_UN_negotiations.pdf}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}