Legal Models to Control Primary Plastic Polymer Production: Key Elements to Consider in the Context of a Treaty to End Plastic Pollution

The document evaluates the Montreal Protocol, Kyoto Protocol, and Paris Agreement to identify effective mechanisms for production controls. It argues that legally binding national targets and a mandatory global target are superior to voluntary commitments. Key recommendations for the plastics treaty include establishing a global production target with a past-year baseline, implementing national phasedown schedules, banning the expansion of production facilities (specifically ethylene plants), and eliminating production subsidies.

• The Montreal Protocol is presented as a highly successful model because it utilizes legally binding schedules for the gradual reduction and elimination of ozone-depleting substances, achieving a 98% global phase-out compared to 1990 levels.
• The Kyoto Protocol failed to achieve global greenhouse gas reductions because obligations only applied to a small group of industrialized countries (Annex I), who accounted for only 18% of global emissions, and because major emitters like the United States and Canada withdrew.
• The Paris Agreement's model of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) is deemed ineffective for achieving meaningful reductions because commitments are unilateral and voluntary, creating an 'ambition gap' that could lead to temperature rises between 2.5°C and 3.7°C by 2100.
• Market-based 'cap and trade' schemes and tradable allowances, as used in the Kyoto Protocol, are viewed as counterproductive because they relocate emissions rather than reduce them and rely on ineffective offsets.
• To prevent 'regrettable substitution' where one harmful polymer is replaced by another, the future plastics treaty should establish an aggregate global production target rather than focusing only on specific polymers.
• The author recommends that the plastics treaty define 'supply' as the sum of production and imports minus exports to prevent countries from avoiding compliance by increasing imports from non-Parties.
• A critical recommendation is to mandate a stop on the construction of new or expansion of existing primary plastic polymer production facilities, specifically targeting ethylene production plants and ethane crackers first.
• The brief advises that the treaty mandate the elimination of subsidies for primary plastic polymer production, suggesting the use of the subsidy definition from the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement).

APA

González, D. D., de Anzizu, H., & Sky, M. B. (2024). Legal Models to Control Primary Plastic Polymer Production: Key Elements to Consider in the Context of a Treaty to End Plastic Pollution. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Legal-Models-to-Control-Primary-Plastic-Polymer-Production.pdf

Chicago

González, Daniela Durán, Helionor de Anzizu, and Melissa Blue Sky. Legal Models to Control Primary Plastic Polymer Production: Key Elements to Consider in the Context of a Treaty to End Plastic Pollution. Center for International Environmental Law, 2024. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Legal-Models-to-Control-Primary-Plastic-Polymer-Production.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=González |first1=Daniela Durán |last2=de Anzizu |first2=Helionor |last3=Sky |first3=Melissa Blue |title=Legal Models to Control Primary Plastic Polymer Production: Key Elements to Consider in the Context of a Treaty to End Plastic Pollution |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=April 2024 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Legal-Models-to-Control-Primary-Plastic-Polymer-Production.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gonzlez2024legal, author = {González, Daniela Durán and de Anzizu, Helionor and Sky, Melissa Blue}, title = {{Legal Models to Control Primary Plastic Polymer Production: Key Elements to Consider in the Context of a Treaty to End Plastic Pollution}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2024}, month = apr, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Legal-Models-to-Control-Primary-Plastic-Polymer-Production.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }