UN plastics treaty: don’t let lobbyists drown out researchers

Every year, 6 million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in the rivers and on coastlines. Credit: Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty

The fourth round of negotiations on a global treaty to end plastic pollution starts next week. The good news is that nations meeting in Ottawa have given themselves until the end of this year to produce a legally binding agreement. The bad news is that countries are further apart than they were last year. A 31-page draft of the text has ballooned to nearly 100 pages, which contain a wide spectrum of positions. Countries have not even decided on how to reach a final agreement on the draft text. At this stage, the talks could completely fall apart, or the end result might be too weak or too narrow to be meaningful.

The negotiations are being organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). As is customary, scientists are meant to be able to observe the talks and also advise those attending the discussions. But researchers have told Nature that they are often not in the negotiation room. Worryingly, fossil-fuel-producing countries and industries are lobbying to narrow the treaty’s focus on rules and targets for recycling plastics. Such targets are important, but a lot more is needed to end plastics pollution. All parties need to get a handle on the colossal scale of the problem, and they must honour their promise to place science at the heart of the talks.

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