Failure to agree a ‘once in a lifetime’ plastics treaty is ‘denying justice’ to people living in poverty, charity Tearfund warns.
The potentially final round of negotiations for a global legally-binding treaty on plastic pollution will begin on Tuesday, August 5 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The previous rounds of talks, in South Korea last December, should have been the last but disappointingly ended without agreement. Despite support from more than 100 countries for an ambitious treaty, a small contingent of opposing states prevented agreement, delaying justice for those most impacted by plastic pollution.
Mari Williams, senior policy associate at Tearfund said: "The longer the negotiations for this treaty take, the longer justice is being denied for people living in poverty who are most impacted by the terrible impacts of plastic pollution.
"Tearfund has been at all five meetings so far and progress has been halted by the same small number of countries opposing progress. Enough is enough.
"People living in poverty urgently need this treaty- stalling, political tactics and power games need to stop. Human lives are at risk.
"We need solutions now. Not only will the agreement of this treaty address plastic pollution, it will also help curb the climate crisis."
Tearfund works in more than 50 of the world’s poorest countries and our partners see first hand the impacts of plastics pollution on the health, livelihoods and neighbourhoods of people living in poverty.
Last month Tearfund, alongside at least 600 civil society organisations from around the world, released a manifesto outlining our key demands for a strong global treaty that would end plastic pollution through significant reduction in plastic production.
Tearfund has also been campaigning alongside waste pickers throughout the negotiations to ensure their voices are heard. Waste pickers collect almost 60% of the plastic that’s collected for recycling globally each year. The treaty must positively impact the livelihoods of waste pickers through better pay, working conditions and access to services, such as health care, and by ensuring their representation and participation in the decision-making forums that affect them.
"We have to get this treaty right. World leaders must seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure an ambitious, global and legally-binding plastics treaty to end plastic pollution and its impacts on people living in poverty.” Mari Williams added.
As Tearfund, we will be attending the negotiations to campaign for:
- legally binding targets to reduce plastic production and scale up reuse solutions
- universal access to waste collection and recycling
- a just transition for waste pickers
- mechanisms to ensure businesses and governments take action
Tearfund supporters can play their part by reducing plastic use, praying for communities impacted by the plastics crisis and working with your church to take action.
For more information log onto https://www.tearfund.org/campaigns/tackling-the-plastics-crisis
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Notes to editors:
Tearfund statistics on plastic pollution:
- Plastic pollution is putting more than 200 million of the world’s poorest people at risk of more severe and frequent flooding - a number equivalent to the combined populations of UK, France and Germany (2023 report by Tearfund and Resource Futures)
- Every minute, enough plastic waste to cover a football pitch is openly dumped or burnt in Sub Saharan Africa, according to analysis by Tearfund (analysis conducted by Tearfund in 2023 of most recent OECD figures).
- Between 400,000 and 1 million people die each year in developing countries because of diseases related to plastic and other mismanaged waste. That’s up to one person every 30 seconds (Tearfund’s 2019 report No Time to Waste)
For further information please contact: Melissa Barnston. For out of hours media enquiries: 07929 339813 or [email protected]
Tearfund is a Christian charity that partners with churches in more than 50 of the world’s poorest countries. We tackle poverty through sustainable development, responding to disasters and challenging injustice. We believe an end to extreme poverty is possible. Tearfund is also a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee. For more information about the work of Tearfund, please visit www.tearfund.org
