6 Essential Podcast Episodes on the Upcoming UN Plastics Treaty and What It Needs to Succeed
You’ve heard of the Paris Agreement - the historic treaty where countries from around the world came together to organize their efforts toward a set of crucial climate goals.
Unfortunately, climate change is only one branch of interlinked issues constituting what the United Nations has defined as our current Triple Planetary Crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
Thankfully, the finalization of another worldwide environmental treaty is quickly approaching. In 2022, the United Nations Environmental Program set a mandate for member parties to agree upon a global Treaty on Plastics Pollution. The 5th and supposed final round of negotiations is taking place in Busan, South Korea this November and December.
While there are many forms of pollution that must be addressed, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to tackle the pervasiveness of plastics and science must be at the forefront of decision making.
Over the last 9 months, I have been talking to scientists from around the world about how plastics exist on this planet. Many of them belong to the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty and have been submitting their research to be considered in the treaty-making process. Some of them even attend negotiations themselves. I have compiled all of what I have learned in Plastic Podcast - a Pine Forest Media production and limited series podcast with 28 episodes for you to stream wherever podcasts can be found.
For now, though, I have put together a list of 5 podcast episodes to give you an understanding of what this treaty is, its utmost importance, and what must be inside of it.
1. A Global Microplastics Database
In this episode, I spoke with Abigail Barrows, who spearheaded a project to create an ocean-wide database of microplastic concentrations. There was no place she didn’t find them. We discussed the extent to which plastic has permeated the planet, even if it is invisible and far away. We also discussed implications for the ocean ecosystems, bioaccumulation, and citizen science.
2. The Truth About Biodegradable Plastics
Here we learn that not all solutions are as simple as we’d like them to be. Dr. Winnie Courtene-Jones teaches us that biodegradable plastics and other alternative plastics, unless used in very specific and controlled conditions, are no less impactful than the plastics we already know. This episode highlights the importance of science-based policy.
3. Plastics and Human Health: What we do and do not know
Dr. Sarah Dunlop, Dr. Louise Goodes, and Dr. Bhedita Seewoo from the Minderoo Foundation are among three scientists who put together a map of every piece of scientific evidence ever published that establishes a link between plastic consumption and a specific human health outcome. What they found was concerning. What they didn’t find was even more so. This episode highlights the vastness of our research gaps in this area and stresses the use of the precautionary principle in regulating plastics. Plastics production involves over 30,000 chemicals, many of which remain largely unstudied, posing unknown risks to health and the environment.
Here we learn how curbing plastic production will be essential in meeting our climate goals. Beyond the fact that plastics are made from fossil fuels, Dr. Livia Cabernard reveals the extent to which plastics production contributes to global emissions. She explains that production is projected to increase over the coming decades and teaches us about the current trend of plastics production shifting toward coal-based economies and how it only stands to amplify their climate impact.
5. Cancer Alley and Environmental Gaslighting
One of the outstanding debates in the treaty-making process is whether or not to regulate the production of plastics. In this episode, I spoke with to activists, Dr. Kimberly Terrell and Gianna St.Julien with the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic about Cancer Alley - a decades-long public poisoning of already marginalized communities by the petrochemical and plastics industry along the Mississippi River. These researchers set out to establish an empirical link to substantiate what was already clear as day. We learn again about the importance of the precautionary principle, how plastics impact human health, and how plastics is a social justice issue too.
6. The Road to Busan and Beyond: A UN Plastics Treaty
In this final episode, I spoke with Tara Olsen who has been following the treaty negotiations and tracking stakeholder positions from the start. We learn how a treaty like this comes together, the outstanding debates about the treaty text and the treaty process, what enforcement mechanisms might look like, and whether or not we will have a final treaty by the year-end deadline.
Through Plastic Podcast, we aim to bridge the gap between scientific research and public understanding, bringing urgent plastic pollution issues to the forefront. You can find all 28 episodes of Plastic Podcast on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream to learn more about how plastic exists on this planet.
You can also follow Pine Forest Media here for more on the intersection of science, society, and the environment.
You will also find our other podcasts Something in the Water and South Pole through the Pine Forest Media website.
