This April, representatives from more than 170 world governments will gather in Ottawa, Canada, to negotiate the United Nations' Global Plastics Treaty, a once-in-a-generation opportunity to solve the plastic pollution crisis. As the fourth of five talks, the stakes are high. What happens in Ottawa could determine the success or failure of the plastics treaty.
World leaders must send a signal to their delegations that they must show courage as well as ambition at the negotiating table. In a Venn diagram, plastics are at the center of the triple global crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. In some cases, bold action can help curb all three, and in other cases, business as usual continues to foster them. And Greenpeace is working with allies to ensure that world governments have clarity on what bold action under the treaty looks like.
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Four things the Plastics Treaty must do
Delegates preparing to negotiate in Canada need to ensure that the Plastics Treaty does four things: 1) Cap and reduce plastic production. 2) Eliminate single-use plastics. 3) Set reuse goals and accelerate a just transition to reuse-based solutions. 4) Ensure that resources are available to support the implementation of the Convention. Zero waste tier. The Convention must also be rooted in a human rights-based approach, ensuring that the rights of indigenous peoples are upheld and that discussions on solutions include frontline communities and affected communities, such as waste picker communities. community perspectives must be centered. Unless countries work together to demand the inclusion of these elements, An effective treaty that succeeded in ending plastic pollution It will be out of reach.
And we know that the public agrees: More than 80% of people around the world support a treaty to reduce plastic production, according to a recent Greenpeace poll.eliminate single-use plastics and accelerate reuse-based solutions.
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Ottawa is not known as the place where treaty negotiations stalled.
So far, negotiations have catered to less ambitious countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iran, which have used procedural issues to block progress by the rest of the world. Over 100 lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry It's built to prevent negotiators from doing the single most impactful thing this treaty has to do: limit and reduce plastic production.
The final negotiations ended in defeat.. Everyone sitting in the plenary hall of the United Nations complex on the last night of December felt shocked, frustrated, disappointed and angry. For Ottawa to be different, negotiators must: Remember the feeling of Nairobi Then channel that anger into action. The strategy of pandering to the lowest common denominator is clearly not working. Countries serious about protecting our health, climate and biodiversity must show renewed ambition and leadership.
Canada as host, Ecuador taking over the INC-4 Presidency, Norway and Rwanda as Presidencies of the High Ambition Coalition (HAC), and other members of HAC to strengthen, organize and advance the interests of their people. There must be. And the earth surrounding backward-looking fossil fuel and petrochemical companies. The more than 2.2 million people around the world who have joined us in calling for a strong global plastics treaty will be watching.as part of a growing movement working to end the age of plastic.
![](https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-canada-stateless/2024/04/d6fddcb8-gp1t2ov7_low-res-800px.jpg)
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Ottawa cannot be known as the place where treaty negotiations ended, but if the call for action is heard, it may conversely be known as the place where treaty negotiations began to flourish. We therefore look to Canada in particular to set a tone that reflects the urgency and constructive optimism necessary to achieve an impactful treaty. Canada is in a good position to get negotiations back on track. Help rally governments around the world to prioritize people over polluters. There's no time to waste.
Graham Forbes is Greenpeace USA's campaign leader and Sarah King is Greenpeace Canada's plastics and oceans campaign lead..
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