Journeying towards an ambitious plastics treaty

Reflecting on Tearfund's journey (so far!) of calling for a global plastics treaty with justice at its heart.

Written by Lucy Tanner | 26 Jun 2025

Someone wearing red rubber gloves sweeps up the ground. In the foreground are lots of plastic bags.

Image credit: Flot Mundala/Tearfund

The plastics treaty began life more than three years ago, back in March 2022, when the United Nations Environment Assembly agreed to create an international, legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution.

At Tearfund, we know that it’s communities living in poverty who are experiencing the impacts of the plastics crisis first and hardest as plastic pollution blights their health, livelihoods and neighbourhoods. That’s why, later in 2022, ahead of the first round of negotiations, we re-launched our Rubbish Campaign and asked you, our supporters, to join with us in calling for a treaty which includes:

Reduction: legally binding targets to reduce plastic production and scale up reuse solutions
Recycling: universal access to waste collection and recycling
Respect: support for waste pickers, including a just transition
Response: mechanisms to ensure businesses and governments take action

Since then we’ve attended five rounds of negotiations (known as INCs) on five continents, produced several influential briefing papers, and spoken to hundreds of delegates about how to put justice at the heart of the treaty. I’ve had the pleasure of lobbying alongside Tearfund colleagues, campaigners and activists from around the world as well as the International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP).

‘It is communities living in poverty who are experiencing the impacts of the plastics crisis first and hardest as plastic pollution blights their health, livelihoods and neighbourhoods.’

And our supporters have walked this journey with us, praying, signing petitions and even sending lemons to the Environment Minister to ensure the UK didn’t ‘lose their voice’ ahead of the fourth round of talks. Thank you. Your support on this journey has meant so much.

On top of a crate filled with lemons are a Tearfund keep cup, a speaker, a jar of honey, a wooden dipper and lozenges.

Supporters sent a range of sore throat remedies to the UK Environment Minister including lemons, honey and throat lozenges. Credit: Tom Price/Tearfund

There have been disappointments and setbacks along the way but also moments of great encouragement. For example, in the final session at INC-5 delegates and observers alike responded en masse to a call on behalf of 85 countries to ‘stand up for ambition’. Together, we stood, cheering and applauding, for more than a minute in what one observer described as ‘a powerful and emotional expression of the will of the majority’.

So what progress has been made on our treaty demands?

Addressing the full life cycle of plastics

Crucially, a treaty that addresses the full life cycle of plastics, from extraction to disposal, still lies within reach. This is vital for us because the impacts of plastic pollution on people living in poverty are felt all throughout this life cycle. Unless we reduce the amount of plastic entering the system we will never be able to address the waste management crisis impacting low- and middle-income countries. Improving waste management is actually one of the few things all countries agree on but for some low ambition countries this should be all the treaty does – address the symptoms and not the cause. We have always been absolutely clear that a justice-centred treaty must do both.

Strong coalitions of ambitious countries are seemingly continuing to ‘hold the line’, demanding a legally binding treaty which includes a reduction in the amount of plastic made in the first place. They are working behind the scenes in the run up to INC-5.2 to build on the momentum gained at INC-5. At the UN Oceans Conference in June 2025 over 90 countries, including the United Kingdom, released the Nice Wake-Up Call for an Ambitious Plastics Treaty. Although this is encouraging, 235 civil society organisations (including Tearfund) released their own statement in response, supporting the Nice declaration as a ‘floor, not a ceiling’ of ambition for the final round of negotiations. This was motivated by a real fear that the level of ambition might be reduced in order to get a treaty agreed.

What does a ‘just transition' mean?

Within the context of the plastics treaty, a just transition means managing the social and economic impacts of reducing our dependence on plastic. It’s vital because it will both ensure that the benefits are shared widely while supporting those (such as waste pickers and people living in poverty) who may experience negative consequences as a result of this shift away from plastic.

Securing a just transition

Another area where there is broad agreement among the negotiators is the need to establish a just transition for waste pickers and other grassroots groups, and a recognition of the work waste pickers do at the forefront of the plastics crisis, collecting approximately 60 per cent of all the plastic that is collected for recycling globally. But as has been affirmed frequently during the negotiations, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and there have been several occasions when careless drafting and imperfect merging of text proposals has led to the weakening of language on just transition. The IAWP, alongside Tearfund and their other allies, have fought back each time this has occurred but we need to remain on our guard to ensure just transition is something that must happen, rather than something that could happen.

But a commitment to a just transition is only part of the solution. Without adequate financing that places funds directly in the hands of waste pickers and other grassroots groups it will not happen. This will be one of our key priorities at INC-5.2, building on a briefing paper we recently shared with negotiators on this issue.

A cartoon drawing showing a man in a suit sitting on a large, rolling barrel that says 'Big Oil' that is being held back by several men and women of different nationalities.

Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez of Panama (wearing the hat in this cartoon) delivered many impassioned statements during INC-5 and urged us all to continue on ‘with fire in our hearts’. Image credit: Break Free from Plastic/Visual Thinkery

One final push?

But what on earth is INC-5.2? Those of you who have been following the plastics treaty closely will be aware that INC-5 was meant to be the final round of negotiations but failure to reach an agreement meant the session was suspended and we will reconvene for INC-5.2 in Geneva in August 2025. There is no guarantee that an agreement will be reached at this meeting either, and if the treaty gets watered down that might not be a bad thing. As I said at the end of INC-5, failure to reach an agreement is bad news for our planet and it leaves people in poverty waiting for justice. But agreeing a weak treaty that ignores the full scale and scope of the plastics crisis would not be much better. Please continue to pray with us that agreement is reached in Geneva on a strong, ambitious and legally binding treaty that covers the full life cycle of plastics and secures justice for the world’s poorest communities.

How you can take action today

As delegations prepare for the UN plastics treaty negotiations (INC-5.2) in August 2025, we know that change doesn’t only happen on the world stage. God calls all of us to join the movement to tackle the plastics crisis through our daily habits and actions, in solidarity with our neighbours around the world.

Will you play your part to reduce your plastic use, pray for communities affected by the plastics crisis, and be part of the solution? Find out about how you can pray, pledge, and take action as a church here.