Towards a Global Treaty to End Plastic Pollution

The document argues that the success of the global plastics treaty depends on inclusive participation, moving beyond the limitations of the existing Major Groups and Other Stakeholders (MGS) system. It analyzes previous Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and regional instruments, such as the Aarhus Convention and Escazú Agreement, to identify best practices for accreditation, speaking rights, and funding. The brief emphasizes the need for protected participation for Indigenous Peoples, waste pickers, women, and youth, who are disproportionately affected by plastic pollution. It concludes with specific recommendations for UN Member States and international bodies to implement open accreditation, provide financial support for stakeholders, and ensure transparency through public meetings and hybrid access.

• The current Major Groups and Other Stakeholders (MGS) system, while providing a pathway for engagement, is often insufficient because recognizing categories of stakeholders does not automatically ensure their unique perspectives influence negotiations or outcomes.
• Meaningful participation is often hindered by narrow speaking parameters in MEA processes, where stakeholders are frequently limited to contributing only "as appropriate" or are restricted to discriminatory time slots, such as those following final decisions.
• The Escazú Agreement serves as a model for open participation by defining the public broadly as any natural or legal person or community organization and allowing the "interested public" to participate with minimal filtering.
• Language barriers significantly limit participation; while plenary sessions often have interpretation in official UN languages, technical meetings and informal negotiations are frequently limited to English.
• There is a critical gap in funding for non-State actors; most MEA rules of procedure lack specific mechanisms to finance stakeholder attendance, research, or the dissemination of materials, unlike specific funds for Indigenous Peoples in other UN contexts.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has been used as a pretext to restrict civil society access, as seen during the IGC-4 on Marine Biodiversity (BBNJ) negotiations where CSOs were initially denied physical access to the UN compound and limited to remote participation without oral intervention rights.
• Indigenous Peoples are particularly vulnerable to plastic pollution across its full life cycle, and their participation should be based on principles of self-identification and self-determination in line with UNDRIP.
• Waste pickers, often from vulnerable groups and women, are essential to waste management but typically lack formal organization and governmental support, necessitating specific representation mechanisms in the plastics treaty process.
• Children and youth face structural constraints to participation, including age-related barriers, funding gaps, and the inability to travel alone, despite their right to be heard under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• Women experience unique health risks from plastic additives and are disproportionately represented as informal waste pickers, yet they remain underrepresented in the staff and secretariats of environmental conventions.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). Towards a Global Treaty to End Plastic Pollution. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Ensuring-Meaningful-and-Effective-Stakeholder-Involvement-in-the-Intergovernmental-Environmental-Negotiations-FINAL-TEXT.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Towards a Global Treaty to End Plastic Pollution. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Ensuring-Meaningful-and-Effective-Stakeholder-Involvement-in-the-Intergovernmental-Environmental-Negotiations-FINAL-TEXT.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Towards a Global Treaty to End Plastic Pollution |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Ensuring-Meaningful-and-Effective-Stakeholder-Involvement-in-the-Intergovernmental-Environmental-Negotiations-FINAL-TEXT.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndtowards, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Towards a Global Treaty to End Plastic Pollution}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Ensuring-Meaningful-and-Effective-Stakeholder-Involvement-in-the-Intergovernmental-Environmental-Negotiations-FINAL-TEXT.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }