Shifting focus to plastic production
Tackling plastics’ climate impacts, fossil fuel lock-ins, and global policy gaps
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36942/dialogossocioambientais.v8i21.1173Keywords:
Plastic Production, Climate Crisis, Emissions, Plastics Treaty, Fossil FuelsAbstract
Plastic pollution has long been framed as a waste issue, but its climate impact demands a shift from disposal to production. Beyond greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, plastics drive fossil fuel lock-ins, making decarbonization alone insuffi cient. Cutting primary plastic production is essential, yet existing climate instruments have critical gaps in addressing plastic climate impacts. The plastics treaty is equipped to fi ll this gap, ensuring action by halting new production capacity and driving reductions in existing production levels to achieve global climate goals.
Downloads
References
Karali N, Khanna N, Shah N. Climate impacts of plastics production.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; 2024 Mar. Available from:
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/12s624vf.
Tilsted JP, Bauer F, Deere Birkbeck C, Skovgaard J, Rootzén J.
Ending fossil-based growth: confronting the political economy of
petrochemical plastics. One Earth. 2023 Jun;6(6):607-29. doi:10.1016/j.
oneear.2023.05.018.
Akizuki Y, Bressers A, Couse J, Healy C, Mackey P, Martin D, Messing
J, Thomson J. Oil 2023: Analysis and Forecast to 2028. International
Energy Agency; 2023. Available from: https://iea.blob.core.windows.
net/assets/6ff 5beb7-a9f9-489f-9d71-fd221b88c66e/Oil2023.pdf.
Tilsted JP, Newell P. Synthetic transitions: the political economy of
fossil fuel as feedstock. Rev Int Polit Econ. 2025. doi:10.1080/09692290.
2467394.
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). Reducing
Plastic Production to Achieve Climate Goals. 2023 Sep. Available from:
https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Reducing-Plastic-
Production-to-Achieve-Climate-Goals_Sept21_V5.pdf.
Global Data. Petrochemicals New Build and Expansion Projects
Analysis by Type, Development Stage, Key Countries, Region and
Forecasts, 2023-2027. 2023 Feb. Available from: https://www.globaldata.
com/store/report/petrochemicals-new-build-and-expansion-projects-
market-analysis/.
Eunomia. Aligning the Global Plastics Treaty with 1.5°C. 2024.
Available from: https://eunomia.eco/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/
Aligning-the-Global-Plastics-Treaty-with-1.5-40x40-V4.0.pdf.

Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Diálogos Socioambientais

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.