Human Rights and the Global Plastics Treaty to Protect Health, Ocean Ecosystems and Our Climate

Abstract

The global plastics pollution crisis has multiple visible and invisible effects on marine, land and air environments. Fossil fuel-based plastics production is projected to triple by 2060, driving a plastics lifecycle that exacerbates climate change, contaminates ecosystems and poses risks to human rights, especially the human right to health. Existing governance measures help tackle plastics waste pollution but cannot effectively address its systemic nature. Drafting a Global Plastics Treaty, due for adoption in 2025, is an opportunity to design ambitious international plastics governance. This article argues for a human rights-based approach to the proposed treaty’s framing and substance by integrating, in particular, the human right to health, supplemented by the human right to a healthy environment. Embedding human rights considerations through a precautionary and preventative approach, shifting responsibility to polluters and showing concern for intergenerational equity would combat plastics pollution, accelerate climate action, protect ocean ecosystems and safeguard human rights.