Just Transition in the Global Plastics Treaty | 18 Jul 2025

Source:DTE 

Why in News?  

The negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty initiated under the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) resolution 5/14 (March 2022), have brought attention to the need for a Just Transition ensuring that efforts to end plastic pollution are both environmentally sustainable and socially fair. 

• Part one of the 5th session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.1) on plastic pollution held in Busan (2024) emphasized the need for stronger legal recognition and protections for informal waste workers and other vulnerable communities.

Why is the Inclusion of 'Just Transition' Critical in the Global Plastics Treaty? 

• Ensuring Fairness, and Inclusivity: A just transition ensures fairness and inclusivity in the shift to low-carbon, sustainable economies by protecting workers and vulnerable communities.  It seeks to avoid creating new injustices while trying to fix existing ones.  
  • It promotes green jobs, retraining, and social protection, especially for informal waste workers.  
• Protecting Workers in Transition to a Plastic-Free Economy: Workers across the value chain (from production to disposal) are at risk of exclusion or economic displacement as countries move towards banning plastics and promoting sustainable alternatives. 
  • Informal waste pickers contribute significantly to plastic recycling (often over 50% of urban waste recovery in developing nations), yet lack recognition and legal protection. 
• Gaps in the Draft Treaty on Just Transition: The draft Global Plastics Treaty recognizes waste pickers' contributions but lacks binding protections.  
  • It fails to define their roles in informal sectors, and Articles 8 and 9 of the Treaty merely encourage inclusion without mandating obligations, excluding informal workers from engagement. Article 11 lacks financial support for just transition programs. 
  • A 'Just Transition' ensures waste pickers are not marginalized in the shift to sustainability. Without binding protections, they risk economic displacement. A clear framework is essential for their inclusion, social protection, and retraining for greener jobs. 

Where do Countries Stand on Just Transition in the Global Plastics Treaty? 

• India: It agrees with Just Transition provisions but stresses that implementation should align with national regulations and local contexts. 
  • At INC-5.1 in Busan, India called for a clear scope for the Global Plastics Treaty. It urged avoiding overlaps with existing agreements like the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions or the World Trade Organization (WTO). 
  • India also stressed the treaty must follow Rio Declaration (1992) principles, especially common but differentiated responsibilities, national priorities, and the right to development for developing countries. 
• European Union (EU): Advocates for safe working conditions and legal recognition of informal workers, emphasizing fair conditions across the plastics lifecycle. 
• Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS): Proposes inclusion of indigenous people and local communities in the Just Transition process, recognizing their vulnerability to environmental degradation. 
• US and African Group: Both support existing provisions, with an emphasis on involving children, youth, and waste pickers. The African Group has reservations on the legal recognition of informal workers. 
• Iran: Calls for financing, technology transfer, and capacity-building, but disagrees on terms like 'vulnerable groups' and 'workers' and resists legal recognition of waste management cooperatives.  

What Should be the Roadmap for Operationalizing Just Transition within the Global Plastics Treaty? 

• Binding Provisions: Ensure key provisions related to Just Transition should be legally binding rather than voluntary to ensure accountability. 
  • Ensure Just Transition references International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions, national labour laws, and UN human rights frameworks to ensure strong enforcement and protection of workers' rights within the Global Plastics Treaty. 
• Definitional Clarity and Inclusivity: Definitions must explicitly recognize informal waste workers, especially waste pickers, as critical stakeholders in plastic recovery and management. 
  • Legal recognition of these workers will ensure they are integrated into both national and international policy frameworks and are provided with appropriate protections. 
• Institutional Mechanisms: Establish a global Just Transition Fund to support vulnerable workers and facilitate green infrastructure.  
  • A dedicated fund can better help retrain workers to integrate them into formal waste systems, boost circular economy efforts, and prevent rising inequality or job loss during the plastic phase-out. 
• Link Just Transition to Technology Transfer and Capacity Building:  Access to clean plastic management technologies should come with safeguards for affected workers. This ensures they’re not pushed out or left behind during the shift to greener alternatives. 
  • Support South-South collaboration on low-cost, decentralised recycling tech. Include mandatory capacity-building programs to help countries integrate informal workers into formal waste systems.