How your plastic bottle fuels climate change - and what the UN plans to do about it

Time of India

27-06-2025

New Delhi: The United Nations Environment Assembly's (UNEA) Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) is heading into its sixth and final round of talks in August 2025 to finalise an
international legally binding instrument
(ILBI) to curb
plastic pollution
. This instrument, born out of UNEA's Resolution 5/14 in 2022, is expected to regulate the entire life cycle of plastic—from production of raw materials (monomers and polymers) to disposal.
A recent briefing note and press release by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (
IEEFA
), warns that without enforceable
trade measures
covering plastic raw materials, the global treaty risks being ineffective.
What the data shows: Plastics are a global trade problem
According to the IEEFA report, a staggering 436.66 million tonnes of polymers and plastics, including feedstocks, were traded globally in 2022. In the same year, final plastic products worth 111 million tonnes were also traded. The sector is highly globalised, with countries like South Korea, the US, and Saudi Arabia leading the trade in raw plastic materials such as ethylene, propylene, and styrene.
IEEFA researchers point out that trade in polymers and monomers—especially those that produce
single-use plastics
(SUPs)—must be regulated at the international level. They argue that focusing solely on final plastic products and ignoring the trade of their raw materials will lead to emissions leakage and allow countries to bypass treaty obligations.
Why trade rules matter: Upstream emissions and global carbon budget
The production of plastics is heavily
fossil fuel
dependent. As much as 99 per cent of plastics are derived from fossil fuels. Plastic production generates 2.24 gigatonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions annually—four times more than global aviation, according to estimates cited by IEEFA.
The carbon embedded in exported low-density and high-density polyethylene from the top five producer countries alone accounts for more than 100 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent annually. The US leads with over 35 million tonnes, followed by Saudi Arabia at around 37 million tonnes.
IEEFA warns that if trade in these polymers is left unregulated, countries may continue exporting plastic raw materials without accounting for the emissions, undermining their Paris Agreement goals.
What the experts say
'Our research shows that petrostates lead trade in ethylene polymers—one of the largest categories of polymers contributing to the production of single-use plastics,' said Swathi Seshadri,
petrochemicals
specialist at IEEFA and co-author of the briefing note.
'A global regulation of plastic pollution without trade measures will only end up circumventing the problem without addressing it,' she added.
Abhishek Sinha, IEEFA's energy finance analyst and co-author, said: 'An assessment of the existing laws to regulate plastic pollution demonstrates an inadequate legal framework to phase out primary plastic polymers.'
Connor Chung, another co-author, emphasised: 'If parties manage to secure rigorous trade enforcement provisions, they will drive decarbonization in the process.'
India, Iran, Russia oppose trade provisions
A small group of countries—including India, Iran, and Russia—opposed the inclusion of trade measures in the treaty draft released in December 2024, citing concerns over conflicts with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and economic dependence on polymer trade.
IEEFA counters that WTO provisions do not restrict member states from adopting environmental policies, provided they are not discriminatory or protectionist. In fact, WTO's own Dialogue on Plastic Pollution (DOPP) has recommended measures to reduce harmful and unnecessary plastics.
Why polymer trade is the core of the problem
Single-use plastics, often made from ethylene, propylene and their derivatives, are at the heart of the plastic pollution crisis. These include packaging materials, plastic bottles, textiles and disposable consumer goods. In Asia, packaging accounts for 60 per cent of polyethylene (PE) consumption and 48 per cent of polypropylene (PP) demand in 2024.
China and other Asian nations accounted for 52 per cent of global plastics production in 2023. The US and Saudi Arabia remain dominant exporters due to abundant fossil fuel reserves. Countries like Belgium, Germany and Singapore act as re-processing or trans-shipment hubs.
Call for action: Treaty must include trade measures
IEEFA recommends that the proposed treaty must establish global and national targets for both production and consumption of primary plastic polymers. It also calls for including trade measures to prevent treaty circumvention and emissions leakage.
'The inclusion of trade provisions makes sense on economic grounds alone, given the interconnected nature of globalized trade,' the report states. 'But a climate rationale also exists, for the simple reason that the plastic supply chain is a major contributor to global
greenhouse gas emissions
.'