Convention on Plastic Pollution

The report proposes a new global Convention on Plastic Pollution to address the full lifecycle of plastics, from production and design to waste management. It argues that existing international instruments are fragmented and insufficient to tackle the transboundary crisis of plastic pollution, which causes an estimated $13 billion in annual environmental damage to marine ecosystems.

• The report identifies a critical need for a dedicated global instrument, a Convention on Plastic Pollution, because current governance strategies are fragmented and fail to adequately address marine plastic litter and microplastics. This proposed convention would cover the entire lifecycle of plastics, from production and design to waste prevention and management.
• The proposed Convention is structured around four pillars of action: Monitoring and Reporting, Plastic Pollution Prevention, Coordination, and Technical and Financial Support. These pillars aim to eliminate long-term discharges of plastic into land, sea, and air, and to establish a just circular economy that protects the climate system.
• National action plans, or plastic pollution reduction plans, would serve as the cornerstone of the Convention. These plans would transpose international obligations into national policies and legislation, including the establishment of national reduction targets and extended producer responsibility schemes.
• The report highlights the severe impact of microplastics, noting they can harbor concentrations of PCB and DDT up to 1,000,000 times higher than surrounding water. It states that there is currently no multilateral instrument to globally ban or heavily restrict intentionally added microplastics.
• To achieve long-term elimination of pollution, the report argues for global control measures to cap and gradually phase down the production and use of virgin plastics.
• The report emphasizes the need for coordination with existing frameworks to fill regulatory voids, specifically regarding sea-based sources (via IMO and FAO), the plastic waste trade (via the Basel Convention and OECD), and toxic additives (via the Stockholm Convention and SAICM).
• A financial mechanism is proposed to support developing countries and economies in transition, focusing on enabling activities and incremental costs. This mechanism should operationalize the polluter-pays principle, ensuring that industries profiting from plastic use finance waste management.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2020). Convention on Plastic Pollution. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Convention-on-Plastic-Pollution-June-2020-Single-Pages.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Convention on Plastic Pollution. 2020. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Convention-on-Plastic-Pollution-June-2020-Single-Pages.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Convention on Plastic Pollution |date=June 2020 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Convention-on-Plastic-Pollution-June-2020-Single-Pages.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2020convention, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Convention on Plastic Pollution}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Convention-on-Plastic-Pollution-June-2020-Single-Pages.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }