Skip to main content

Vamsi Shankar Kapilavai, Programme Lead, Environment and Climate Action

No deal, better than a bad deal: Geneva and the future of the plastics treaty

Geneva was meant to be the turning point. For ten tense days, the Palais des Nations carried the weight of a world desperate for relief from plastic pollution. Delegates arrived with briefcases full of ambition, and they left on the morning of 15 August with no agreement. The headlines quickly called it a failure, “Talks collapse, no deal reached”. But silence in Geneva did not mean surrender.

Connecting the dots: The Global Plastics Treaty and media

Report prepared by: Vamsi Sankar Kapilavai (Programme Lead, Environment & Climate Action, CAG)

Acknowledgements: The author acknowledges S. Saroja for her critical review of the report and the communications team for editing the report.

Licence type

Tags

Resource Type

Plastic, policies and people: A bottom-up dialogue on the global plastics treaty

Plastic, Policies and People brings grassroots voices into the global conversation on plastic pollution. This report captures insights from waste workers, youth, RWAs, and MSMEs across four cities, highlighting their expectations, concerns, and priorities for the Global Plastics Treaty. It underscores the need for an inclusive, just, and accountable treaty that reflects the lived realities of those most impacted. Through vivid documentation and powerful narratives, the report offers a bottom-up perspective on what a truly transformative plastics treaty must look like.

Licence type
Resource Type

Plastic or progress? The INC-5 outcomes unveiled

As waves lapped at Busan’s shores, delegates inside INC-5 (25 November - 1 December 2024) faced a storm of their own - the task of negotiating a treaty that will shape the future of our planet’s relationship with plastics. Delegates from across the globe came together, grappling with the urgent need to address the escalating plastic crisis that threatens ecosystems, economies, and human health. From microplastics in our bloodstreams to mountains of waste in landfills, the repercussions of plastic pollution are undeniable.

The Plasticene Epoch and the brands behind it

CAG's 2021 Brand Audit sought to understand which companies create the maximum plastic waste. Interestingly, unbranded plastic contributed to a quarter of the plastic waste audited followed by well-known brands like Unilever, Aavin, and Britannia. Over 90% of the plastic waste produced by companies such as Unilever, Nestle, and Mondelez for example, are made of non-recyclable plastics - an indication of brands disinterest in making their products truly sustainable.

Source
Licence type
Resource Type

Microplastics findings in Kodungaiyur

A study that analysed water samples from around the Kodungaiyur dumpyard seeking to answer the question of how much microplastics have leached into the neighbourhood water sources.

Licence type
Resource Type