Globally, 460 million tons of plastics are produced every year. These plastics, their associated chemicals, and emissions drive climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution and thus exacerbate the triple planetary crisis (FPF reported). The ongoing international negotiations to develop a global plastics treaty are crucial for transforming the plastics economy (FPF reported and here). To ensure evidence-based and effective decision-making, negotiators and the public need access to unbiased, conflict-of-interest-free information. Therefore, hundreds of members of the scientific community have self-organized to address this need by forming the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastic Treaty (FPF reported and here).
In a perspective article published in Microplastics and Nanoplastics on July 18th, 2024, Kristian Syberg of Roskilde University, Denmark, and a multi-national cohort of members from the Scientists’ Coalition describe why the Coalition was formed and how it ensures the quality and accessibility of its outputs to all stakeholders. The article explains that “there is a lot of misinformation being spread by stakeholders with special interests”, but there is no formal UN mechanism to inform the negotiators on the relevant available science.
The Scientists’ Coalition captures the expertise of more than 350 independent scientists from academic and research institutions across various disciplines and 60 countries. All Coalition members must declare any special interests and provide a track record of publishing peer-reviewed research related to plastic pollution when applying to join. This declaration is carefully reviewed to prevent members with conflicts of interest from influencing the Coalition’s efforts. Most of the researchers involved mentioned environmental science, microplastics, or waste management as their areas of expertise. The multidisciplinarity and diversity of the researchers ensure that the interdependent factors of plastic pollution are well understood.
Any document produced on behalf of the Scientists’ Coalition undergoes an internal peer-review process to ensure that the information provided is unbiased and free of conflicts of interest, just as any standard peer-reviewed journal article is meant to do. In this way, the Scientists’ Coalition can play a central role as an honest knowledge broker.
According to the article’s authors, access to relevant scientific information for different stakeholders is ensured through a multi-faceted communication approach, including the development of various outputs tailored largely to treaty negotiators. These include peer-reviewed publications, scientific letters and commentaries, policy briefs and fact sheets, social media engagement, and direct participation in treaty negotiations. The diversity of outputs ensures that robust, independent science is accessible to negotiators, the media, and the public. A dedicated social media strategy and communications team helps to increase engagement and disseminate information widely and effectively.
Lead author Kristian Syberg wrote on LinkedIn that he hopes this transparent article will not only ensure trust in the Coalition but also “inspire other researchers who wish to organize themselves and inform future important policy processes”.
Reference
Kristian Syberg, et al. (2024). ‘Informing the Plastic Treaty negotiations on science – experiences from the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastic Treaty.’ Microplastics and Nanoplastics. DOI: 10.1186/s43591-024-00091-9
Read more
Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty. «Membership.» IKHAPP
Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty (2024). «Fact sheet: Plastics and the triple planetary crisis.» DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10880588
