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The study uses a dynamic input-output model to compare a business-as-usual baseline against two scenarios: an immediate ban (2024–2025) of four products and a phased withdrawal (2025–2030) of six others. Findings indicate that both interventions lead to positive economic outcomes, including real GDP and employment expansion, while reducing the costs of externalities. However, the transition would cause job losses in plastic production and a modest net increase in greenhouse gas emissions due to increased activity in substitute-producing sectors.

The WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution, launched in November 2020 and co-sponsored by 75 members, seeks to align international trade policies with global efforts to reduce plastic pollution. The Dialogue operates through three workstreams: crosscutting issues (transparency and capacity building), promoting trade in sustainable technologies and substitutes, and fostering circularity and reduction. Key priorities include improving the Harmonized System (HS) for better trade data, integrating plastic pollution into the Aid for Trade initiative, and coordinating with other international frameworks like the Basel Convention and the UNEA's legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.

Transparent 2022 reports on the plastic footprints of ReSource: Plastic members, highlighting a rise in recycled content to 10.2% of the aggregate portfolio and a slight decrease in problematic plastics to 1.3%. The report emphasizes the need for systemic change and policy advocacy, such as the UN global instrument to address plastic pollution, to overcome barriers like the low availability of food-grade recycled content. It details individual company progress, including significant rPET transitions by The Coca-Cola Company and Keurig Dr Pepper, and identifies North America as the region with the highest landfill rates for member portfolios.

The author uses recent heatwaves and wildfires in Europe to illustrate how climate change exacerbates air pollution and health issues. The text details a feedback loop where petrochemical production leads to plastic pollution, which in turn releases methane and ethylene, harms soil carbon absorption, and disrupts marine food production. It concludes by highlighting the need for holistic legislation, citing the European Union's decarbonization strategy, a proposed UN global treaty on plastic waste, and updates to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

The document analyzes global oil demand scenarios from the IEA and CER, concluding that climate policies and technological shifts—particularly in road transport—will lead to a permanent decline in oil demand starting before 2030. It highlights that road transport, the largest consumer of oil at 44%, is seeing an exponential shift toward electric vehicles. Other sectors, including buildings, power, aviation, shipping, and plastics, are also expected to contribute to demand destruction, though at different paces. The brief asserts that Canada must prepare for this structural decline to ensure economic resilience.

The document examines the rise of 'greenwashing' litigation related to plastics, where companies are challenged over misleading claims about recyclability, biodegradability, and corporate sustainability. It details a proliferation of class actions in the US and Canada, NGO-led challenges in the EU and US, and increasing enforcement by regulators like the FTC and CMA. The briefing also identifies an emerging 'second generation' of lawsuits brought by shareholders who allege financial losses resulting from deceptive environmental statements.

The document examines the increasing legal vulnerability of companies regarding plastic leakage into the environment. It highlights significant settlements for plastic pellet spills in the US and Europe, the potential for lawsuits against consumer brands and producers for macroplastic waste, and the role of economic losses—such as those in the fishing and tourism industries—in driving future strategic litigation.

The document analyzes global oil demand scenarios from the IEA and CER, concluding that structural shifts in road transport and increasing climate policies will lead to a permanent decline in oil demand starting before 2030. It highlights that while road transport is the primary driver, other sectors like plastics, aviation, and shipping will also contribute to demand destruction in the medium term, creating a shrinking market for Canadian oil producers.

The author asserts that the plastic industry is set to double production by 2030 while only 9% of plastic has been recycled globally. The text highlights how companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo use voluntary targets to mask a lack of progress and lobby against deposit return systems in the US. Additionally, it criticizes European supermarkets for a lack of transparency regarding their plastic footprints and for employing greenwashing tactics to avoid systemic change.

The SAIIA Young Leaders Declaration 2022 outlines youth-led demands for climate justice and sustainable development, specifically targeting South Africa's energy transition and the Global South's vulnerabilities. It calls for the urgent implementation of the Just Transition Framework, the removal of the 100MW limit for renewable energy supply from Independent Power Producers, and the integration of youth and marginalized genders into policy writing. Beyond climate, the declaration advocates for the decolonization of African educational curricula, the protection of informal workers, and the eradication of the 'pink tax'. It concludes with pledges from both youth and educators to foster leadership and civic engagement to achieve a more equitable society.

The document proposes six pathways to 'green' Aid for Trade (A4T), emphasizing that developing countries must lead the prioritization of resources to ensure a just transition. It highlights a significant gap between reported environment-related A4T and projects with clear environmental purposes, while calling for updated monitoring systems and increased financing to align trade policy with the UN SDGs and the Paris Agreement.

The report argues that greening Aid for Trade (A4T) is essential for supporting developing countries in their transition to a sustainable global economy. It identifies a gap between the reported environmental objectives of A4T and actual project implementation, noting that while many donors use Rio markers, few projects have a clear environmental purpose. The document proposes six complementary pathways to green A4T: mainstreaming environmental considerations, securing additional financing, improving monitoring systems, integrating trade into climate funding, strengthening South-South cooperation, and fostering coherence with wider financial mechanisms like debt relief and climate finance. It emphasizes that developing countries must lead the prioritization of these resources to ensure a just transition that avoids new trade barriers and addresses the 'double exposure' of economic and environmental risks.

The report examines the role of Aid for Trade (A4T) in supporting the transition to a green global economy. It argues that while A4T has historically focused on infrastructure and productive capacity, it must now mainstream environmental considerations to help developing countries, particularly least developed countries (LDCs), adapt to climate change and seize green trade opportunities. The author proposes six complementary pathways to 'green' A4T, emphasizing developing country ownership and the need for additional financing, improved monitoring, and coherence with wider climate finance and debt relief mechanisms.

The event emphasized the need for partnerships between scientific, policy, and private sector communities to commercialize research and innovations in the blue economy. It highlighted the importance of strengthening science and technology capacity in Africa to meet the African Union Agenda 2063 and discussed the road toward the 2022 UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, focusing on SDG 14 and the global instrument to end plastic pollution.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is facing a critical need for reform across its negotiating function, dispute settlement system, committee transparency, and Secretariat role. While members generally agree on the need for change, they are divided on the approach: some advocate for 'coalitions of the willing' to modernize the agenda, while others, particularly developing countries, prioritize the Doha Development Agenda and the preservation of special and differential treatment (SDT). The dispute settlement system remains crippled by the United States' refusal to appoint new Appellate Body members since 2019. Divergent priorities exist between the EU, US, African Group, India, and LDCs, with disagreements extending to whether reform should proceed via working groups or General Council review processes.

The Forum on Trade, Environment & the SDGs (TESS) highlights the critical role of international trade in the global plastics economy, noting that trade in plastics exceeds USD 1 trillion. TESS argues that current trade policies are often disjointed and can undermine national efforts to curb pollution. The statement urges the INC to foster international cooperation to reduce trade in problematic plastics, end the trade of contaminated waste, and improve data transparency regarding 'hidden' plastic flows. It emphasizes the need for a just transition for developing countries and synergy with existing frameworks like the Basel Convention and WTO dialogues.

The United States is urged to lead negotiations for a comprehensive global treaty to end plastic pollution, with the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act proposed as a model for national action plans. Following a February 2022 consensus by over 175 UN Member Nations, negotiations are scheduled to proceed through 2024, with adoption and signing expected in 2025.

The document argues that the proposed CSDD is insufficient to meet EU Green Deal ambitions because it uses a restrictive definition of 'adverse environmental impact' based on a limited list of international conventions, omitting key agreements like the Paris Agreement. It highlights that the current framework allows companies to ignore impacts on water, soil, and plastic pollution if no specific international prohibition is violated. Furthermore, the briefing criticises the proposed climate transition plans for lacking prescriptive content and failing to mandate the inclusion of Scope 3 emissions, which often constitute the majority of a company's climate footprint.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment call for the modernization of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), arguing that the 1999 framework is inadequate for current climate and pollution crises. While acknowledging improvements in Bill S-5, the authors demand further amendments to prioritize the prohibition of toxic substances, recognize the right to a healthy environment, and address cumulative risks to human health.

The report finds that European supermarkets generally exhibit low transparency and ambition regarding plastic reduction, with an overall average score of 13.1%. Most retailers rely on voluntary commitments and recyclability rather than waste prevention and reuse systems. While some UK retailers show higher performance, there is significant inconsistency in policies across international retail groups, and some companies are accused of greenwashing through ineffective recycling schemes that result in waste being exported and dumped in third countries like Turkey.