Recognizing that plastic pollution poses challenges to our environment and human health, the U.N. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee begins its final scheduled round of negotiations tomorrow to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. A recent report co-authored by ELI indicates that plastics also have an impact on the climate. Plastics emit greenhouse gases throughout their lifecycle, might disrupt key ecosystem processes essential to sequestering carbon, and could even affect how the Earth reflects and absorbs energy.
The negotiations present an opportunity to ensure that the instrument addresses these climate impacts in accordance with the best available science. We're excited to share a set of recommendations for the Committee, developed in partnership with the Plastics & Climate Project and other experts. The focus of these recommendations builds on that report and includes language that would include the aforementioned three climate impacts of plastic and petrochemicals in the treaty.
Be sure to also check out our additional resources on plastics here.