Preventing Corporate Capture: Democratic Legitimacy and the Global Plastics Treaty

After two years of negotiations, a multilateral agreement addressing plastic pollution is scheduled to be finalized at the fifth session of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) in Busan, November 2024. While the resolution to create a binding instrument covering the full life cycle of plastic is an important step in tackling this global crisis, concerns over the capture of decision-making by vested interests persist. In this commentary, we highlight how power imbalances in plastics treaty negotiations have privileged corporate perspectives and marginalized the views of more critical rights-holders and civil society groups. To address this democratic deficit, we argue that a future plastics treaty must adopt procedures that ensure meaningful participation of affected groups, minimizing the disproportionate influence of transnational corporations. We highlight relevant norms and practices from existing multilateral agreements that could strengthen the design of the global plastics treaty and protect its objectives from being undermined by powerful corporate interests.