By Franklin Asare-Donkoh
The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), a network with more than 1,000 members across all United Nations regions, is calling for greater accountability, inclusiveness, and transparency in the plastics treaty process.
GAIA’s call was outlined in an open letter delivered to Luis Vayas Valvidieso of Ecuador, Chairman of the International Negotiating Committee (INC) Bureau—the governing body overseeing the plastics treaty negotiations.
Ana Rocha, Director of Global Plastics Policy at GAIA, stated in the letter:
*”Civil society has been locked out of the negotiations multiple times, from intersessional work to key meetings during INC-5, going against mandated procedures even when countries have expressed support for stakeholder participation.
The very people who are being excluded are the ones whose voices are most needed—Indigenous Peoples, independent scientists, frontline communities, and representatives of the countries most impacted by plastic pollution.
The Chair must build a transparent negotiation structure that ensures mandated civil society participation and creates the conditions for an ambitious treaty to reach the finish line.”*
GAIA’s letter aligns with demands from other major civil society organizations, including the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), the Scientists Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, the Indigenous Peoples and Their Communities Major Group, the Red del Abya Yala por la Reducción de la Producción de Plásticos con Metas Globales Vinculantes, the Women’s Major Group, the Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance (APPA), and the International Alliance of Waste Pickers.
Despite ongoing efforts to exclude civil society from negotiations, GAIA and other advocacy groups managed to make a significant impact during the last round of talks in Busan, South Korea (INC-5).
Due to civil society pressure, the majority of participating countries announced their support for ambitious measures, including plastic reduction targets, the elimination of chemicals of concern, a just transition, and an equitable financial mechanism. These efforts also countered attempts by a small group of petroleum-producing nations seeking to delay and weaken the treaty’s outcomes.
The date and location for the extended round of negotiations, INC-5.2, are still to be announced.
GAIA is a global alliance comprising more than 1,000 grassroots organizations, non-governmental groups, and individuals across over 90 countries. The organization aims to drive a global shift toward environmental justice by empowering grassroots social movements to implement solutions to waste and pollution.
GAIA envisions a just, zero-waste world built on respect for ecological limits and community rights, where people are free from the burden of toxic pollution and where resources are sustainably conserved rather than burned or discarded.
