Over 220 lobbyists shape plastic pollution treaty talks

Around 220 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists are participating in the ongoing negotiations in Busan, South Korea to develop a global legally binding instrument on phasing out plastic pollution, a new analysis has shown, which also flagged concerning "reports of intimidation and interference" from industry representatives.

- Jayashree Nandi

The analysis, based on the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) provisional list of Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) participants, found that at 220, INC-5 has the highest number of lobbyists registered to attend the negotiations. At INC-4, 196 lobbyists were identified. Over 99% of plastic is made from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels, and the fossil fuel and plastic industries are deeply connected, according to the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), which conducted the analysis with the International Pollutants E