As parties to the United Nations Environment Assembly gather this week in Paris to negotiate a first-ever Global Plastic Treaty, they have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to prevent public heath crises and mitigate climate change. Countries should negotiate a rights-respecting treaty that fully encompasses the impacts of plastic production, use and disposal on human health and the environment. Plastics are not just a threat to human health, but also a major contributor to the climate change crisis. Perversely, in the midst of the climate crisis public financing of fossil fuels and petrochemicals continues to prop up the plastics sector. More broadly, from 2019 to 2021, G20 countries and multilateral development banks provided at least $55 billion per year for fossil fuels.

Source: Washington Post May 30, 2023 09:47 UTC