Moment of Truth: Will INC-5 Deliver the Plastics Treaty the World Needs?

A statement by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) outlining the necessary components for an effective global plastics treaty during the INC-5 negotiations in Busan, Republic of Korea, emphasizing the need for production caps and bans on hazardous chemicals.

• Plastic production is projected to triple by 2050, which would account for 20 percent of global oil demand within twenty years and potentially consume one-third of the remaining global carbon budget, threatening the 1.5°C warming limit.
• CIEL argues that downstream measures are insufficient because plastic recycling rates are below 10 percent. They recommend a treaty that mandates a minimum 70 percent reduction in plastic production by 2050, using 2019 as the baseline, supported by binding national targets to prevent the treaty from becoming a non-binding 'Paris-style' agreement.
• The treaty must address chemical safety by banning entire classes of hazardous chemicals based on the precautionary principle. Of the 16,000 chemicals used in plastics, over 4,200 are known to pose health and environmental risks, while nearly 10,000 lack sufficient data.
• To ensure efficacy, CIEL proposes several governance and financial mechanisms: enforceable trade measures for non-party countries, the use of qualified majority voting in the Conference of the Parties (COP) to avoid consensus-based stalling, and a globally coordinated fee on primary polymer production to fund support for low- and middle-income countries.
• Negotiations face risks from industry influence and political shifts. CIEL notes that lobbyists at INC-4 outnumbered European Union delegates. Additionally, the re-election of Donald Trump raises concerns regarding the future stance of the US delegation, given his alignment with industries that undermine climate goals.

APA

Del Castillo, A., & Durland, L. J. (2024). Moment of Truth: Will INC-5 Deliver the Plastics Treaty the World Needs? Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/moment-of-truth-will-inc-5-deliver-the-plastics-treaty-the-world-needs/

Chicago

Del Castillo, Andrés, and Lindsey Jurca Durland. Moment of Truth: Will INC-5 Deliver the Plastics Treaty the World Needs? Center for International Environmental Law, 2024. https://www.ciel.org/moment-of-truth-will-inc-5-deliver-the-plastics-treaty-the-world-needs/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Del Castillo |first1=Andrés |last2=Durland |first2=Lindsey Jurca |title=Moment of Truth: Will INC-5 Deliver the Plastics Treaty the World Needs? |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=20 November 2024 |url=https://www.ciel.org/moment-of-truth-will-inc-5-deliver-the-plastics-treaty-the-world-needs/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{delcastillo2024moment, author = {Del Castillo, Andrés and Durland, Lindsey Jurca}, title = {{Moment of Truth: Will INC-5 Deliver the Plastics Treaty the World Needs?}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://www.ciel.org/moment-of-truth-will-inc-5-deliver-the-plastics-treaty-the-world-needs/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }