Legally Binding Reduction Targets for Primary Plastics Production: A Necessity to End Plastic Pollution

The rapid increase in plastics production since the 1950s has led to severe environmental and human health impacts, including climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, and exposure to hazardous chemicals. UNEA Resolution 5/14 calls for a legally binding treaty to end plastics pollution throughout its lifecycle. This paper highlights the urgent need to reduce primary plastics production (PPP) as an essential measure for ending plastics pollution while acknowledging the scientific challenges in quantifying a fixed, long-term, PPP reduction target, such as the potential underestimation of true environmental and socio-economic costs. We propose a dynamic framework for setting and updating PPP reduction targets, grounded in evolving scientific knowledge and drawing lessons from other multilateral environmental agreements: (1) establishing ambitious, measurable, long-term and interim global PPP production reduction goals; (2) applying legally binding national targets across all member states and appropriate support for developing countries; (3) conducting annual evaluations by an independent scientific body; and (4) avoiding offset mechanisms to ensure accountability. To guide future treaty development, we emphasise the need for further research, ensuring that reduction targets remain scientifically informed and adaptive over time.