Inside the UN’s failed Plastic Treaty
The CRIN team was in Geneva in August for the second part of the fifth session on a treaty to end plastic pollution (INC-5.2), where we met siblings Zara and Ashton Hawkins. These under-18 environmental activists are founders of Hidden Plastic, an organisation that exposes the often-overlooked impact of plastics. In this interview, they reflect on the breakdown of the talks, share their experience inside negotiation rooms and discuss how young people can hold governments accountable.
CRIN: What first motivated you to get involved in global advocacy around plastics? And can you tell us a bit about your organisation Hidden Plastics – how it started, what its mission is, and the kind of work you do?
Zara: We've always cared about our environment and had a passion for our ocean, and with the knowledge that humanity and our species is slowly destroying it, it led to climate anxiety. So we wanted to be able to make a difference, yet we thought we had to wait until we were older to do so.
And then in 2020, after attending a boot camp by the Captain Planet Foundation, we decided to start Hidden Plastic, which is a small organisation that creates creative videos about plastic pollution. From there, we've had a few different campaigns, which eventually led us to the global plastics treaty negotiations. The first one we attended was INC.2 when I was 14 and Ashton was 12.
Ashton: I would also add that within Hidden Plastic we also do a wide range of campaigning on different things. The global plastics treaty is probably our main project that we're working on right now, because it's an incredible opportunity to have a huge effect in the plastic space. But we are also working on a project to get reverse osmosis drinking water fountains in the market and installed.
When it became clear that the negotiations wouldn’t deliver a binding agreement, what was your first reaction?
Zara: [The negotiations in] Geneva was the second time they failed; the first one was in Korea, and that time around, it was expected. Neither of us were at all surprised that the treaty wasn't able to reach an agreement then. But then coming into Geneva, it felt very different. We really did have that hope that we would have a treaty by the end of August, and then we didn't. That was incredibly disappointing, just thinking about the hours, the days spent by so many people, and the effort that went into it just for it to fail in the end… Yeah, it was not a very nice feeling at all.
What do you think were the biggest obstacles to agreeing on a treaty this time?
Ashton: I would say that there are many things that caused the failure of the treaty, but [the main one is that] the rules of procedure for the global plastics treaty says that an agreement has to be reached by consensus. So essentially, every country has to agree on every bit of wording in the treaty text which, of course, is a huge problem because when you're creating these treaty negotiations you've got countries that are really ambitious. Like Panama, [they] want a really strong treaty that stops plastic [production and pollution].
Then you also have oil-producing countries that make a lot of money from the production of plastic, like Saudi Arabia. The issue is, because of this [rule of] consensus, it's really hard to agree on a proper text. But going into INC 5.2 there was a hope of a vote because, in the rules of procedure there's a loophole that says that a country can declare a vote, and that way countries don't have to agree with consensus, but just by a majority vote. Unfortunately, when the vote didn't come, it was definitely a huge failure, and that ultimately caused the failure of INC-5.2.
Compared to earlier negotiations you’ve been part of, did you notice any changes in how children and young people’s voices were included - or not included - in Geneva? Is there anything you’d like to see changed in the way children and young people are included in plastics treaty processes?
Zara: The first time we attended any INCs, we were the only under-18s, and since then, there have been some more youth that have been able to attend. For example, there was a 16-year-old from Indonesia and a 14- year-old who attended INC-4, and this most recent one had two 17-year-olds attend as well. So it seems like the youth inclusion in this treaty has slowly increased - and there was definitely a sense of a very welcoming community towards the youth and people were willing to listen.
For example, during INC-4, the scientists wanted to meet with the under-18s to hear from us and from future generations. That really seemed rooted in the fact that this treaty and the decisions made today will ultimately affect our generation and the generations to come, and therefore it really seems critical that children are provided the space in these negotiations. However, this hasn't always been reflected in the way the UN had accepted [children and] youth for all of the negotiations so far; for example on the INCs registration page there was an official “no under-18s” restriction. That has now been lifted, but in the past it was a major barrier. Looking forward into the future, hopefully this will be able to encourage more under 18s to attend similar events, and we're incredibly excited to see how this will pan out.
During INC-5.2 the Youth Plastic Action Network was also launched, which is the youth network affiliated to the plastics treaty, and it received a huge amount of momentum and support. The chair of the INC spoke at one of their events, and it was really good to see that youth were able to come together to promote a strong treaty for our generation and the generations to come - but also that people were genuinely really listening to the youth voice.
In your view, what’s at stake for children and young people, especially those in frontline or highly impacted communities, if we continue delaying a strong plastic treaty?
Zara: First of all, plastics directly impact the youth. They are an incredibly new problem, [which was invented] during our grandparents’ generation. Yet, [it’s] already having a huge impact on the world. Now just imagine how big that impact will be down the road. It's only going to get a lot worse, and it'll become so much harder to solve than it is today.
Also, the youth and children especially, often face a greater impact from plastics. Even now, science has shown that children have a greater concentration of microplastics in their bodies than adults. So already today, the impact of plastics and the decisions made by adults on this issue - that we never asked for - are bombarded on us and having a pretty big impact on our health, our well-being and our futures.
Ashton: I’d also add that every time we have a failed negotiation, every time this isn't successful, the worse the plastic problem gets… And the more plastic that is in our environment, the more microplastics leach into our food and enter our bodies and cause health problems… And more plastics enter the oceans, which kills wildlife and threatens coastal communities.
This treaty will affect everybody on Earth. Plastic is made from fossil fuels and chemicals, and the human body isn't meant to consume fossil fuels, and many thousands of chemicals and plastics are known to be toxic and cause health problems. Moreover, the plastics industry is expected to double production by 2040 and to triple production by 2050, and if it continues growing at that rate, the amount of plastics in the environment and in our bodies, and the amount of health risks associated with that, is only going to grow exponentially.
Without a binding agreement forthcoming, what are actions that states and institutions can take now - whether at the local, national or international level? What is something people can do from home?
Zara: The first and possibly one of the easiest things that governments can do is to stop subsidising plastics. Right now, the global plastics industry receives USD$80 billion every year through plastic subsidies, and this is essentially making plastics artificially cheap - which is not only incentivising the production of plastics, but makes it harder for the alternatives (or the non-plastic substitutes) to compete in price. If governments were to just stop spending public money on plastics, that would have a huge impact in capping [production], or at least not incentivising the production of plastics. So that seems like the easiest thing that governments can do right now.
On more of a local level, a lot of change can be done if people encourage their decision makers to make an impact. It is our generation that is the one that will have to deal with the consequences of plastic, so [as young people] we can use the leverage of being a young person as kind of a superpower.
Ashton: Just writing to your local politicians, to your government and telling them about the importance of a strong plastics treaty and the huge impact it can have. These negotiators really need to know that we want a strong treaty; we need a vote [on the treaty], and we need to cap plastic production and stop subsidies.
What gives you hope right now - even in moments of political deadlock like this one?
Zara: What gives me hope is the sheer amount of people involved in this space and who care. From hearing all of the terrible news about our environment, it may seem like it's hopeless and that the world doesn't care. But, from my experience of being in this space, that’s not true. There are so many people out there who want to make a difference and who want to protect our planet and protect our futures. I really do think that humanity is capable of solving so many of the issues that we face today, especially plastic pollution; we just need to put in the work to get there.
Ashton: I would also say, even though these treaty talks are kind of in a stalemate because of [a lack of] consensus, it's also very cool to see that there are all these negotiators coming through for a strong treaty. Being at the treaty talks you'll find, surprisingly, that most negotiators and most countries want a strong treaty. They want to stop plastic pollution. They know about these problems and they care. They care about the future generations, they care about the environment. But the barriers that are set by the rules of procedure mean that it's very hard to reach an agreement. So I would say what gives me hope is knowing that there are people out there who are really trying to fight for a strong treaty.
If you could send one message directly to the negotiators before the next round of talks, what would you say?
Ashton: I would say that the world is watching and that we care about the treaty, because this treaty is a big deal, and it will have huge effects on the world.
Zara: I'd like to say that we really don't have time to continue delaying. We need a strong treaty now. It's essential for our planet. Consensus may be an ideal in a perfect world in which all governments can come together and reach an agreement on absolutely everything, but compromise seems like the only way forward, and that compromise may involve leaving some people behind for the greater good of our planet, its people and the future generations. Therefore, I think it really does seem important that, in future agreements, we don't follow the same mistakes that we made in the past. [We should move forwards with an approach] that could possibly involve switching to a vote, because that's the best way to [actually] get this treaty done.
What message would you give to other children and young people who feel strongly about environmental justice but aren’t sure how to begin making a difference?
Ashton: I would say your voice matters. While under-18s are less than 30% of the population, we will be 100% of the future. People need to know our opinions and negotiators need to know that we care. What I would say to youth is just start to make your voice heard and make sure that people are aware. We really have this power [at the treaty negotiations] where people listen to us; [we have] a special voice, which you don't really get as you're an adult, because we will be the future.
Zara: I also think you cannot be too young to make an impact. No matter how old you are and how much experience you have, just start something. Start small. It could be anything. Find something you're passionate about. For us, we liked video making and decided to make some videos. You may enjoy art, you may enjoy filmmaking, you may enjoy blogging - just to find your passion and find a way to use that in the environmental space or to make a change in the world. If you start small, these things really can grow.
Biography:
Zara Hawkins, 16, and Ashton Hawkins, 14, are the founders of Hidden Plastic. Their environmental activism has brought them to four of the global plastics treaty negotiations, among some of the only delegates under 18-years-old to have taken part.
In their five years of environmental work, they’ve worked with the Captain Planet Foundation, the Global Seaweed Coalition and, most recently, the Children and Youth Major Group at the UN Environment Programme where they are members of the coordination team for their newly-launched Youth Plastic Action Network.