Azul Statement on INC-4 Plastic Pollution Treaty Negotiations in Canada
For Immediate Release
Monday, April 30, 2024
Contacts (Español/English):
Betsy López-Wagner, López-Wagner Strategies, betsy@equitablecomms.com
Lucila Garcia, López-Wagner Strategies, lucila@equitablecomms.com
Azul Statement on INC-4 Plastic Pollution Treaty Negotiations in Canada
Ottawa, Canada (April 29, 2024) – Azul, an ocean justice organization working with Latines to protect the ocean and coasts, shares the following statement on behalf of Azul’s Founder and Executive Director Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš at the conclusion of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-4) in Canada:
“The United States is the world’s top producer of plastic waste – yet our nation has not committed to taking strong action to break the lifecycle of plastics and the pollution we create.
At this critical moment, the United States lacks a national plastic strategy while over 100 communities across the country are affected by the production and incineration of plastics. Azul, a Latine-led and serving ocean justice organization, alongside countless ocean advocates and activists, communities and young people, has been working for the last decade to disrupt the lifecycle of plastics and plastic pollution. Plastic pollution is a growing crisis with devastating impacts on our environment and human health – especially for Black, Indigenous, Latine and other communities of color. And, 92% of Latine voters support doing more to prevent plastic pollution – that’s why we called upon the U.S. Department of State, in a letter dated March 20th, to act on this imminent crisis by enforcing the reduction of plastic pollution, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its production, use, and disposal.
We believe that to truly live up to its ideals and protect the health of its people, the U.S. must both commit and take action to reduce the scourge of plastic that is putting our communities here and abroad in grave danger.
As the Azul and UN Environment Programme report, NEGLECTED: Environmental Justice Impacts of Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution, states, the entire life cycle of plastics — from source extraction to waste — disproportionately affects historically excluded and marginalized communities around the globe, posing obstacles to the full and timely achievement of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
Background:
In 2021, Azul and the United Nations Environment Programme released the report Neglected: Environmental Justice Impacts of Marine Litter and Plastics Pollution which has been a leading resource at global plastic treaty talks.