Convention on Plastic Pollution

The report argues that existing fragmented governance is insufficient to tackle the transboundary crisis of plastic pollution, which causes an estimated $13 billion in annual environmental damage to marine ecosystems. It proposes a new global Convention structured around four pillars: monitoring and reporting, plastic pollution prevention, coordination with other international instruments, and technical and financial support. Key recommendations include the implementation of national plastic pollution reduction plans, global caps and phase-downs of virgin plastic production, and the establishment of a financial mechanism based on the polluter-pays principle to support developing countries.

• Current international and regional governance of plastic pollution is fragmented and fails to adequately address marine plastic litter and microplastics.
• The proposed Convention on Plastic Pollution is structured around four pillars: monitoring and reporting on the environment and implementation; prevention measures to promote a safe circular economy; coordination with other international/regional instruments; and technical and financial support for policymakers and developing countries.
• A central component of the proposed agreement would be national action plans (or plastic pollution reduction plans) that transpose international obligations into national policies, including the legislation of extended producer responsibility schemes and national reduction targets.
• To achieve long-term elimination of emissions, the document argues for global control measures to cap and gradually phase down the production and use of virgin plastics.
• Microplastics pose significant risks to human and environmental health, adsorbing toxic pollutants like PCB and DDT at concentrations up to 1,000,000 times higher than surrounding water, yet no multilateral instrument currently exists to ban or heavily restrict intentionally added microplastics globally.
• The report emphasizes the need for a financial mechanism to support developing countries and economies in transition, operationalizing the polluter-pays principle and ensuring plastic waste management is financed predominantly by the industries profiting from plastic use.
• Plastic's climate impact, primarily in production and secondarily in incineration and decomposition, requires coordination between national action plans and the UNFCCC's Nationally Determined Contributions to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2050.

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} }