Driving Change at the Global Plastics Treaty 2025

AUSMAP
4 hours ago
4 min read

“Getting to the UN treaty table takes years of research, data, and community action — and staying there takes ongoing support. We’ve made it this far, and with your help, we can turn this treaty into real change.” — Dr Scott Wilson, AUSMAP Research Director

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AUSMAP at the Global Plastics Treaty Negotiations in Geneva

Dr Scott on the second row behind the #BreakFreeFromPlastic banner | Photo credit: Trixie Guerrero

From 05 to 14 August 2025,189 nations and more than 650 observer groups — from NGOs to scientists to industry lobbyists — gathered in Geneva for the latest round of talks on the Global Plastics Treaty 2025. This treaty seeks to be the first legally binding global agreement to end plastic pollution.

For AUSMAP, this moment is the result of years of citizen science, mapping microplastics across Australia, and pushing our government to take action. Now, we’re bringing that data to the world stage.

But after days of tense talks, the negotiations ended in stalemate. The sticking point? Whether to include a binding cap on single-use plastic production — the very source of the problem. Other issues that remain unresolved include how to address plastic pollution across its entire life cycle and whether to tackle human health impacts and harmful chemicals in plastics.

Before Geneva — The Work to Get tHere

Our journey started on Australia’s shorelines. Volunteers, schools, and communities have been collecting sediment samples for over eight years. That evidence built the Australian Microplastic Pollution Hotspot Map — showing that tiny plastic fragments are everywhere, from remote beaches to urban harbours.

That map has already influenced state and national policies and scientific research. Without citizen science and robust data, we wouldn’t have a voice in Geneva.

At the Negotiations — AUSMAP in the Room

Inside the UN, three big questions dominated debate:

Plastic production caps — Will the world agree to reduce plastics at the source?
Full life-cycle accountability — From production and chemicals to disposal and waste.
Monitoring and enforcement — Ensuring commitments are more than words.

Australia stood firm as part of the High Ambition Coalition of 120+ nations, pushing for binding rules on plastic production and chemical additives. This group of high ambition nations support a full lifecycle approach to plastics, from production to waste, climate and health impacts. But opposition came from oil and plastic giants — including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, China, and the United States — who resisted any cap on production, and insisted on focusing on downstream management, like recycling, which we know is not the solution.

Meanwhile, industry lobbyists were everywhere. More than 230 lobbyists, mostly from oil, gas, and plastics, had direct access to negotiations — some embedded within national delegations. Their influence was clear: stall, weaken, delay.

From AUSMAP’s side, Dr Scott worked with Pacific Island nations, NGOs, and scientists to ensure microplastics are recognised as a life-cycle issue, not just a waste problem. We’ve been making the case that science and monitoring must be central if the treaty is to succeed.

Dr Scott outside the Plastic Treaty Negotiations in Geneva

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After the Treaty — What’s Next

The reality is clear: a treaty without a production cap is a weak treaty. If necessary, high ambition nations must move ahead together, even without consensus from petrochemical states. We call on the Australian Federal Government to do so, and to do so fast.

Australia’s Environment Minister Murray Watt confirmed he is disappointed no agreement was secured, but reinforcing "Australia was never going to accept a bad deal for our environment". Australia stood strong as part of the High Ambition Coalition, pushing for binding rules to limit problematic plastics and harmful chemicals.

We still have a big job at home: Australia continues to be the second-largest consumer of single-use plastics in the world, and we can’t recycle our way out of this crisis.

We call for:

Strong packaging regulations that cut single-use plastics, scales up a circular economy, not just focusing on recycling;
Rules that make producers responsible for plastics across their full lifecycle; and
Monitoring and enforcement systems powered by science and citizen data.

The good news? More than 80% of Australians support strong packaging laws. Now it’s time to deliver.

We still have a big job at home — Australia must now turn treaty promises into strong national action to reduce plastic pollution.

How You Can Be Part of This

Every shoreline survey, every data set, and every intervention at the Global Plastics Treaty is only possible because of people like you.

You can:

Donate today to ensure we can keep monitoring our shorelines for microplastic pollution and informing the state, national and international community of our results
Share this message with your community
Collect a microplastic sample along your local shoreline, if you have been AUSMAP trained.

“Plastic pollution is everywhere, but once we make it visible, change becomes possible. The Global Plastics Treaty is a huge step forward — but only if we make sure the promises are kept. That means more science, more advocacy, and more people like you standing with us.” — Dr Scott Wilson, AUSMAP Research Director