Civil Society and Rights Holders Applaud Re-Issuing of Plastics Treaty Red Lines, Encourage Member States to Go Further

NICE, FRA, June 10, 2025 — Today, over 90 Member States issued a declaration setting red lines for the upcoming Global Plastics Treaty negotiations. Following the press conference announcing the Nice Wake Up Call for an Ambitious Plastics Treaty, over 235 civil society organizations and rights holders released a reaction. They underscore the importance of the Member States’ action and call for the statement to be a “floor, not a ceiling” at the upcoming resumed fifth session of the intergovernmental negotiating committee to advance a Global Plastics Treaty (INC-5.2). They also encourage other Member States to join the Declaration.

Reactions from signatories of that statement: 

Severino Lima Jr., President, International Alliance of Waste Pickers

“The Nice Declaration marks a significant step forward, but it must serve as a baseline, not a limit. For a truly just transition, the treaty must explicitly recognize waste pickers, ensure our inclusion in decision-making, and provide the necessary support to safeguard our livelihoods and health.”

Juressa Lee, co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Plastics

“The Nice Declaration is a welcome step, but words must be followed with actions if we are serious about protecting the rights and health of all. Member States must show decisive leadership at INC-5.2 and deliver a strong, legally binding plastics treaty that leaves no one behind. Communities on the frontlines, including Indigenous Peoples, are bearing the brunt of plastic pollution at every stage of its toxic lifecycle: from oil and gas extraction, to plastic production, to waste dumping, and the challenging process of environmental remediation, including the restoration of contaminated sites and the recognition of those who have protected these oceans and territories for millennia. This is possible if the INC will centre and learn from these communities and their experiences and expertise. We need action, not delay, to safeguard the ocean and the communities that depend on them.”

Jo Banner, co-founder, The Descendents Project, USA

“Much like the plantation system from which it stems, plastic production inflicts lasting harm on Black bodies—especially those of resident’s in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley. INC-5.2 offers an opportunity for Member States to intervene for our families who have been ravaged by plastic pollution for generations. With Our communities on thin ice, attempts to dilute language by lowering ambition, promoting false solutions, and excluding human rights are a death sentence to fenceline communities. The Nice Declaration is a start but not the finish line—negotiators must move forward with ambition as if our lives depended on it—because in Cancer Alley they certainly do.”

Rico Euripidou, Chemicals and Campaigns Support, groundWork, South Africa

“The NICE Declaration signals important political momentum, but it must now be matched by real action. INC-5.2 in Geneva is the moment for governments to move from statements to substance. To truly protect people and the planet, the treaty must confront the toxic threat at the heart of plastics. Controlling harmful chemicals of concern routinely added to plastics is not optional—it is a public health necessity. From production to disposal, plastics expose communities to thousands of hazardous substances, many of them unregulated, undisclosed, and traded with impunity. Without clear, binding measures to identify and eliminate harmful chemicals and ensure transparency and traceability of harmful checmials across the plastics lifecycle, we risk reinforcing the very harms this treaty seeks to end. Health must not be a footnote—it must be a foundational pillar of the treaty.”

Mohamed Kamal, Executive Director, Greenish Foundation, Egypt

“The Nice Wake-Up Call Declaration underscores the importance of strong positions on key articles and measures necessary to effectively address plastic pollution. However, it falls short in acknowledging the need for a new and independent financial mechanism, an essential element for ensuring the success of the treaty that was called for by over 120 countries at INC-5. This omission weakens the overall ambition the Declaration seeks to promote.

“While it reaffirms long-standing positions championed by many African countries since the outset of the negotiations, the priority now is to build on this momentum heading into INC-5.2, where it remains long overdue to secure an adequate and ambitious treaty.”

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Media contact:

Cate Bonacini, [email protected], +1-510-520-9109 (WhatsApp, Signal)