Pakistan has stepped into a leading role at the ongoing negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty, pressing for a framework that treats developing nations fairly and ensures they have access to green financing and technology.
At the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-5.2) in Geneva, Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister, Dr. Musadik Malik, convened discussions with counterparts from Bangladesh, Egypt, Tajikistan, Malaysia, and Sudan. The talks are part of efforts to finalize a global deal aimed at curbing plastic pollution, a crisis that disproportionately burdens poorer nations.
Developing nations left behind
Malik underscored a key imbalance: the world’s wealthiest economies, which consume the largest share of plastics, also corner most of the available green financing. Meanwhile, countries on the frontlines of pollution and climate-related fallout are left without the resources to respond effectively.
“This system leaves those who suffer the most with the least support,” Malik argued, pointing to both environmental and socio-economic consequences.
Call for technology and financial fairness
Pakistan’s stance is that the treaty cannot succeed without concrete commitments to technology transfer, capacity building, and fairer financial mechanisms. Without these, Malik warned, the agreement risks deepening global inequities rather than solving the problem.
Why this matters
The debate reflects a broader tension in international climate and environmental negotiations: richer countries push for ambitious global targets, but poorer nations insist that without funding and technological support, those goals are unrealistic. For Pakistan—one of the nations already struggling with climate-linked disasters—the issue is not just about plastics, but about survival in a global system tilted toward wealthier economies.
