Governing plastics: The power and importance of activism in the global South

Over the past two decades, civil society advocacy to improve plastics governance has been surging across the global South. This diverse, fragmented, bottom-up advocacy is now a key force, this Perspective article contends, reforming policy and elevating concerns for community justice, social equity, and human rights. A variety of strategies characterize this advocacy. Activists are raising public awareness and diffusing norms of appropriate behaviour. They are organizing cleanups, partnering with local businesses, and modelling social enterprises. And they are shaming transnational corporations, lobbying governments, and participating in multilateral forums. These mutually-reinforcing strategies, the article maintains, are intensifying pressure to transform plastics governance globally, including negotiating an ambitious plastics treaty. Calls are growing louder for governments to impose targets for ending plastic pollution, eliminate harmful plastics, and reduce overall production. Pressure is rising on states to end trade in unrecyclable plastics, phase out incineration, and require manufacturers to redesign plastic products. Demands are mounting for greater producer responsibility for plastic pollution, a stronger precautionary principle when governing plastics, and more investment in waste and recycling infrastructure. States are also facing growing civil society pressure to implement just transitions to waste-free economies that prioritize the rights of communities and marginalized peoples. More research will be necessary in the coming years to fully evaluate the global influence of South-based advocacy to improve plastics governance. Still, the author concludes, this case offers valuable insights into the ability of South-based activism to not only influence, but also take a leading role in strengthening global environmentalism.