Global Plastics Treaty

With plastic pollution present in almost every corner of the planet, endangering the health of both humans and the environment as well as accelerating the climate crisis, now more than ever do we need to support a strong Global Plastics Treaty to solve this crisis.

End the Age of Plastic
Sofía Gómez, Influencer and Freediver. © Diana Rey Melo / Greenpeace

The roadblocks

The Global Plastics Treaty talks, started in 2022, aim for a plastic-free future by 2024. Powerful industries lobby against strict regulations, and some nations hesitate to commit, making these goals hard to achieve. We must demand transparency, accountability, and ambitious targets to overcome these obstacles and push for a treaty that limits plastic production and use. Without strong rules, the treaty risks being ineffective.

What can be done

To ensure the Global Plastics Treaty delivers, we need collective action. Advocate for stronger policies, support marginalised communities affected by plastic pollution, and join the global movement against plastic. We need to tell world leaders to champion a strong Global Plastics Treaty during upcoming negotiations, so we can finally turn off the tap and end the age of plastic by limiting plastic production and use. Together, we can create a sustainable future.

Keep learning about

Hundreds of people join A Plastic Free 2023 march in Jakarta. Greenpeace Indonesia joins with dozens NGOs and communities hold the fifth Plastic Free campaigns to stop single usage plastic.
Plastics
Greenpeace Malaysia has been conducting a field investigation on the broken system of recycling and how it impacts Malaysian society. The findings were shocking: a new ‘dump site’ of plastic waste from more than 19 countries — most of them are developed countries. The investigation found illegal practices, and blatant violations causing environmental pollution as well as harming people’s health conditions. Since China banned plastic waste imports in January 2018, countries in Southeast Asia – particularly Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia – have accepted an increased amount of plastic waste. Between January and July 2018 alone, Malaysia imported 754,000 metric tonnes of plastic — the weight of approximately 100,000 large elephants. It came from countries like the United States, Japan, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Plastic Waste Trade
Haze and Human Rights Activity in Malaysia. © Darshen Chelliah / Greenpeace
Ahead of the 2021 International Human Rights Day, a broad alliance of civil society organisations led by Greenpeace Malaysia and local NGO CERAH Anti-Haze Action file a pioneering complaint at the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) in Kuala Lumpur as a proactive countermeasure to address the chronic and persistent haze pollution. Representatives from the coalition joined Greenpeace Malaysia volunteers for an offline action in front of the Human Rights Commission building to demand for the recognition of clean, haze-free air as a basic human right.
© Darshen Chelliah / Greenpeace
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