Ensuring a Human Rights-Based Approach to the International Legally Binding Instrument to End Plastic Pollution, Including in the Marine Environment

This policy brief by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) argues that the proposed international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution (the Plastics Treaty) must be grounded in a human rights-based approach. It asserts that plastic pollution violates multiple internationally recognized human rights and that the treaty should operationalize both substantive rights, such as the right to a healthy environment, and procedural rights, such as access to justice and public participation, to ensure equity and accountability.

• Plastic pollution causes widespread health and environmental consequences that violate several internationally recognized human rights, including the rights to life, food, water, sanitation, adequate housing, an adequate standard of living, the highest attainable standard of health, and a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
• Low-income countries suffer a disproportionate economic burden from plastic pollution compared to developed nations, which undermines their right to development despite these countries contributing less to the overall problem.
• States have existing legal obligations to protect and promote human rights in the face of environmental degradation, which includes preventing foreseeable infringements caused by policy inaction or third parties like corporations, as well as upholding procedural rights such as access to information and legal remedies.
• The right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, recognized by the UN General Assembly in 2022 and the Human Rights Council in 2021, should be operationalized within the Plastics Treaty to protect vulnerable groups, including children, workers, women, girls, and Indigenous Peoples.
• The Compilation Draft of the Plastics Treaty shows progress in human rights language but remains inadequate; specifically, it treats public participation and access to information as voluntary measures rather than rights and completely omits references to the right to effective remedy and access to justice.

APA

Shah, D. (2024). Ensuring a Human Rights-Based Approach to the International Legally Binding Instrument to End Plastic Pollution, Including in the Marine Environment. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Ensuring-a-Human-Rights-Based-Approach-to-the-International-Legally-Binding-Instrument-to-End-Plastic-Pollution-Including-in-the-Marine-Environment.pdf

Chicago

Shah, Dharmesh. Ensuring a Human Rights-Based Approach to the International Legally Binding Instrument to End Plastic Pollution, Including in the Marine Environment. Center for International Environmental Law, 2024. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Ensuring-a-Human-Rights-Based-Approach-to-the-International-Legally-Binding-Instrument-to-End-Plastic-Pollution-Including-in-the-Marine-Environment.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Shah |first1=Dharmesh |title=Ensuring a Human Rights-Based Approach to the International Legally Binding Instrument to End Plastic Pollution, Including in the Marine Environment |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=November 2024 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Ensuring-a-Human-Rights-Based-Approach-to-the-International-Legally-Binding-Instrument-to-End-Plastic-Pollution-Including-in-the-Marine-Environment.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{shah2024ensuring, author = {Shah, Dharmesh}, title = {{Ensuring a Human Rights-Based Approach to the International Legally Binding Instrument to End Plastic Pollution, Including in the Marine Environment}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Ensuring-a-Human-Rights-Based-Approach-to-the-International-Legally-Binding-Instrument-to-End-Plastic-Pollution-Including-in-the-Marine-Environment.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }