Providing climate justice for marginalised groups in the implementation of the UN Global Plastics Treaty in Brazil

The project tackles plastic pollution by learning from conflicts of interest in the UN Global Plastics Treaty negotiations and using those lessons to promote more equitable plastic governance in Brazil.

Start date

07 November 2024

End date

Ongoing

Overview

Plastic is convenient, durable and highly adaptable but the way we currently use and dispose of it is unsustainable. Every micron of plastic ever manufactured still exists today, be it as solid waste, airborne pollution, microplastics and nanoplastics or in recycled products, and plastic production continues to increase (Ritchie et al., 2023).

UNEA Resolution 5/14, (March 2022) calls for an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution for implementation beginning 2025. How the treaty will work in practice is hotly contested by stakeholders ranging from powerful coalitions of plastic producers to marginalised groups and poorer countries fighting for their right to a healthy environment.

Brazil is both a globally significant producer of plastic waste and home to some of the planet’s most crucial endangered ecosystems (Alencar et al., 2023). Funded by the UKRI Global Talent Exchange pilot scheme, our project targets the critical period when Brazil must decide how to apply the UN plastics treaty, promoting equitable representation for all.

Aims and objectives

To learn from the conflicts of interests between key stakeholder groups in the negotiation of the UN plastic treaty and use those lessons to help ensure the needs and voices of marginalised stakeholder groups in Brazil are heard, thereby protecting climate justice.
To empower early career researchers from the University of Surrey and the University of São Paulo to address complex environmental challenges collaboratively.

Credit: Photo by Shaun Swingler