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Author comment: A little less conversation: How existing governance can strengthen the future global plastics treaty — R1/PR6
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This author comment discusses how existing governance frameworks could be strengthened to support a future global plastics treaty, without waiting for entirely new regulatory systems. Leveraging current environmental agreements could accelerate reductions in plastic pollution including the microplastics that enter marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
The growing plastic production, the lack of their waste management, and fragmented regulatory responses have increased their abundance in the environment. Plastic pollution has created significant environmental concerns leading to planetary boundary threats. As a result, an increasing number of governments and non-state actors have begun negotiations on a legally binding treaty to cover the full-life-cycle of plastics by 2024. While the negotiations were mandated at the United Nations Environment Assembly 5.2 in March of 2022, how the new agreement would link to existing governance bodies addressing plastic pollution at the global, regional, national and local levels requires careful consideration. This analysis examines the main multi-level governance structures in place to govern plastics while highlighting their principal roles as well as shortcomings and gaps. It then explores ways a new global agreement could complement existing governance structures without imposing and duplicating the work of previous agreements.
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A little less conversation: How existing governance can strengthen the future global plastics treaty
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This analysis examines existing multi-level governance structures for plastics—from global agreements to local regulations—and explores how a new global plastics treaty could complement rather than duplicate these existing frameworks. The authors identify principal roles, shortcomings, and gaps in current governance and propose ways to integrate a new binding instrument with the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions and other relevant regulatory bodies.
Advancing the international regulation of plastic pollution beyond the United Nations Environment Assembly resolution on marine litter and microplastics
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This legal paper reviews international frameworks relevant to plastic pollution and argues for a binding global agreement specifically targeting plastic pollution, beyond existing resolutions. A comprehensive international treaty is increasingly seen as necessary to meaningfully reduce plastic pollution, including microplastics.
Author comment: Addressing microplastics in drinking water in the global plastics treaty – Gaps, challenges and opportunities — R0/PR1
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An author comment on peer reviews of a letter arguing the UN Global Plastics Treaty inadequately addresses microplastics in drinking water, responding to reviewers' suggestions about monitoring standardization and binding regulatory requirements. (Author comment document.)
Author comment: Addressing microplastics in drinking water in the global plastics treaty – Gaps, challenges and opportunities — R1/PR5
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An author reply to peer reviews of a letter analyzing how the UN Global Plastics Treaty fails to adequately address microplastics in drinking water, responding to reviewer comments about monitoring gaps and proposed improvements. (Author comment document.)
Addressing Microplastics in a Global Agreement on Plastic Pollution
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This report examines how microplastics could be addressed under a proposed global agreement to end plastic pollution, analyzing existing regional and national regulatory measures and proposing potential measures and modalities for a science-policy interface on microplastic pollution. Researchers found that different measures are required to address various sources and pathways of microplastics, and drew lessons from existing multilateral environmental agreements to inform negotiations in the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee.
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