Civil society groups, scientists, and community representatives have warned that the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations in Geneva risk producing a weak deal that ignores the root causes of plastic pollution.
Marian Ledesma, Zero Waste Campaigner of Greenpeace Philippines, raised alarm over mounting industry influence.
She said oil-producing states are pushing to limit the treaty to waste management, excluding measures to cut plastic production and address health impacts.
“We are running out of time,” Ledesma said. “A watered-down treaty that ignores plastic production cuts would be a betrayal of the millions of people counting on their leaders to protect health, human rights, and the environment.”
She warned that a weak treaty would merely shield polluters from accountability and fall short of promised ambition, which requires addressing the problem at its source rather than shifting the burden to already overwhelmed communities.
Reports from past sessions show fossil fuel and petrochemical lobbyists far outnumbering health and environmental experts. Advocates fear this imbalance could derail the process in favor of industry interests.
In the Philippines, more than 80 civil society groups, schools, and businesses have urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to back ambitious production cuts and upstream solutions such as reuse and refill systems.
The DENR has expressed support for a “full life cycle” approach to plastics, from extraction to disposal.
“This Global Plastics Treaty is a way forward for us to solve our situation on waste,” said Atty. Janice Regoso-Pammit, Chief of the Legal Division and Concurrent Board Secretary of the Pollution Adjudication Board of the Environmental Management Bureau.
She said the Philippines’ submission to the negotiations includes key points on health, product design, financing, release and leakages, waste management, the entire life cycle of plastics, extended producer responsibility, and transparency and traceability.
Ledesma stressed that adopting a full life cycle approach internationally must be matched by equal ambition at home, including cutting plastic production, phasing out single-use plastics, and building strong reuse systems in the Philippines, or risk betraying communities already suffering from plastic pollution.
