GAIA MEMBERS FROM THE GLOBAL SOUTH HAVE A MESSAGE AT INC-4: WE DIDN’T START THE PLASTIC CRISIS, BUT TOGETHER, WE CAN END IT!
Thanks to the tireless work of the #breakfreefromplastic movement and GAIA members around the world, in March of 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly decided on a mandate to create the world’s first Plastics Treaty, a legally binding international law aimed at reducing plastic pollution worldwide, covering the full life-cycle of plastic. This is a historic step forward in the fight against plastic pollution, and would not have been possible without a diverse movement of waste pickers, frontline community activists, and zero waste advocates demanding systemic change. However, there’s still a long road ahead–there will be a series of meetings through the end of 2024 during which the treaty will take shape. GAIA and our allies will be present for the entirety of the negotiations to make sure our issues are represented, but it will take continuing pressure from people all over the world to ensure that we get a strong treaty that meets the scale of the crisis. Such a treaty must include plastic reduction targets, eradicate toxics, exclude false solutions like incineration, scale up zero waste solutions such as reuse, and center a just transition for waste pickers and other groups at the frontlines of the crisis.
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NEW DATA: PLASTIC PRODUCTION MUST BE CUT BY 12% TO 17% PER YEAR TO AVOID CATASTROPHIC CLIMATE CHANGE
In advance of the fourth round of United Nations negotiations for an international plastics treaty in Ottawa April 23-29, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has released a groundbreaking study revealing the enormous climate impact of plastic production. The report’s findings reinforce the importance of the treaty covering the entire life cycle of plastic, from extraction to disposal, as enshrined in the 175-country agreement Resolution 5/14, which forms the basis for the treaty talks. Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) has created a policy brief that shows how rapidly the world must reduce plastic production in time to avert catastrophic warming.
Policy Briefs/Submissions
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GAIA INC-3 Booklet
This booklet serves as a comprehensive guide, complete with primers on:
- what the INC-3 could achieve
- the rules of procedure
- scope and principles
- priorities for zero draft discussion in contact groups
- the plastics circularity trap
- the plastics treaty and the Basel Convention
- Definitions
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Issues in Focus
Plastics Crisis: Challenges, Advances and Relationship with Waste Pickers
Negotiations must include the recognition of the historical work of those who have recovered more materials and in the most efficient way: the waste pickers.
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