The first steps have been taken towards a new UN plastic treaty

CCB • December 12, 2022

Bernardo Roca-Rey, Peru; INC Chair Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, Peru; Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, Executive Secretary, INC Secretariat; and Yesica Fonseca, Peru.
Photo credit: Earth Negotiations Bulletin.

The first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-1) have concluded on 2 December in Punta del Este, Uruguay after a week-long negotiations - with representatives of more than 150 countries, including countries of the Baltic Sea region, as well as many NGOs, science groups, and industries took part in the negotiations. The new instrument is expected to be the biggest environmental treaty since the Paris agreement on climate with the aim to end plastic pollution of the environment, including sea life, and human health.


Meeting for the first time, the INC was prepared to address organizational as well as substantive matters. However, from the very start, delegates delved into the form and substance of the future treaty. While these substantive discussions occupied most of the week’s agenda, a few significant and contentious procedural and organizational matters, including the election of the bureau and voting procedures, were also in the foreground.


There is already a division among the governments on how to approach the plastic problem. Some countries, including the EU are in favor of global bans on certain plastics, while other countries are advocating for a model, when countries shall act based on their national plans.


At its conclusion, the Committee requested the INC Secretariat to prepare a document, ahead of INC-2, which would outline options for elements of the instrument, based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full lifecycle of plastics, including the objective, substantive provisions including core obligations, control measures, and voluntary approaches, implementation measures, and means of implementation, and including both legally binding and voluntary measures.

“One of the clear outcomes after the first session is that many countries see a strong linkage between plastic pollution and health issues. The health topic was referred by more than 60 countries in their interventions, which hopefully, will make this treaty to focus not only on environment, but also on health - commented Eugeniy Lobanov, CCB Hazardous Substances Working Area Leader, and participant of INC 1 in Uruguay - It is also important that the topic of toxic substances in plastics has got a high profile during the negotiations, which is definitely one of the key issues, which is needed to be addressed to solve the plastic crisis”.


Coalition Clean Baltic is committed to contribute to further preparations of the new plastics treaty, and will continue to work along with its members and partners to make the Baltic sea region free from plastic pollution.  


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Article written by Eugeniy Lobanov, CCB Hazardous Substances Working Area Leader

CCB is looking for a Network Officer to join our team at the CCB International Secretariat

By CCB • April 9, 2025
Coalition Clean Baltic – CCB is a politically independent network, uniting 27 environmental non-profit organizations, as well as partners and experts from 11 countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. The main goal of CCB is to promote the protection and improvement of the environment and natural resources of the Baltic Sea region by encouraging new and constructive approaches and engaging people to become part of the solution instead of part of the problem. CCB Secretariat is based in Uppsala, Sweden.

Attacks on NGOs: 570+ Organisations Join Forces to Defend Civil Society

By CCB • April 7, 2025
European civil society organisations (CSOs) are currently facing an attack coming from certain Members of the European Parliament. Spearheaded by some MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) and by far-right groups, this attack resorts to misleading arguments to fabricate a scandal. This portrayal has been amplified through the media, with notable exceptions of articles that attempted to clarify this misleading narrative. European CSOs are crucial to ensure the voices of citizens from different parts of Europe are heard in the EU institutions. Attacks against civil society are unfortunately not new and are exacerbated by this harmful idea. Furthermore, for-profit corporate lobbying is through the roof when compared to non-profit advocacy. In 2024, the 50 corporations with the largest lobbying budgets collectively spent nearly €200 million on lobbying the EU alone (66% more than in 2015). Comparing this to the funding environmental NGOs receive under the LIFE programme - €15.6 million annually of a €700 million yearly budget - truly shows the weakness of this ‘scandal’. This is why over 570 civil society organisations from 40 countries, including all EU Member States, have joined forces to call on those in power to act now and ensure that civil society is adequately funded and enabled to share our crucial perspectives . In this statement, we address: The source of this false narrative; Inaccurate claims made about how CSOs obtain and use funding; Why it’s paramount that CSOs receive sufficient funding; The need for civil dialogue to enable CSOs participation. Democracy is about the right of citizens to be collectively heard for building an inclusive society and a shared European future; properly funded independent CSOs are a crucial tool for that. We call on decision-makers to ensure civil society organisations can thrive and play their role in interacting with policy-makers in order to have a more fully informed decision-making process. Read the full statement here . -END Civil Society Europe (CSE) is the coordination of civil society organisations at EU level. Through its membership, CSE unites EU-level membership-based organisations that reach out to millions of people active in or supported by not-for-profits and civil society organisations across the EU. CSE was created by several civil society organisations as a follow-up to the European Year of Citizens and was established as an international not-for-profit under Belgian law in 2016. Since then, it has become the point of reference for EU institutions on transversal issues concerning civil dialogue and civic space.