Discarded plastic bags and bottles Source: AI
As the world prepares for the resumed fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-5.2) in Geneva this August, African voices are demanding a future that places human rights, equity, and local realities at the center of global plastic governance.
“We need a treaty that is effective enough to be worth funding and that will translate our political ambition into action,” said Merissa Naidoo, GAIA’s Africa Program Manager for the Plastics Program.
She spoke while addressing participants during the INC5.2 Africa Journalist Network Briefing: Strengthen African Media Coverage on the Plastics Treaty, a civil society forum held virtually on July 24, 2025.
The session was hosted by the African Journalists Network in collaboration with Break Free from Plastic (BFFP) Africa and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).
The goal: to equip reporters with the context, tools, and voices needed to cover INC-5.2 from an African perspective and to do so with clarity, confidence, and credibility.
Africa’s Reality Check: The Crisis That Starts Upstream
Across the continent, plastic pollution is entangled with weak waste systems, foreign dumping, economic dependencies, and health impacts that disproportionately affect vulnerable communities.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the world produces over 430 million metric tonnes of plastic every year, with less than 10% ever being recycled.
This unchecked production has a disproportionate impact on the Global South, where countries often lack the infrastructure to manage the deluge of waste.
This reality is a stark warning, but as Naidoo pointed out, the crisis is projected to worsen.
Citing a report on “business-as-usual” scenarios, she warned that “the use of plastics could almost triple globally,” with the “largest increases being expected for sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.”
For Africa, the problem is more than just plastic; it’s political.
Naidoo underscored that the crisis stems not from the end-of-life phase, but “from the extraction of the fossil fuel industry.”
She explained that currently, 6% of the world’s total oil production is used by the plastic sector, a number projected to surge to 20% by 2050.
The treaty, she insisted, must be legally binding and prioritize upstream solutions meaning real cuts in plastic production, not just better disposal.
“We cannot rely on polluters to police themselves,” she said, highlighting the urgent need for a high common minimum standard of action for all signing countries.
The Upstream Battle: A Rejection of “Recycling Our Way Out”
The African perspective is clear and unified: the solution lies at the source, not at the end of the pipeline.
Mohamed Kamal, Co-Director at Greenish Foundation Egypt, highlighted a critical disconnect between national delegates and the reality on the ground.
“A lot of countries especially countries in Africa and some delegates are not actually fully aware of the scale of pollution we have in our own countries,” he said.
Kamal argued that media must bridge this gap by connecting “the pollution on the ground with how these countries are having their stances in the INC to just show the stark difference.”
The idea that “if you improve your solid waste management, plastic pollution should be theoretically reduced” is a myth, according to Kamal.
“We know from years of work that this is not enough. The only way to really solve issues that are associated with leakage and pollution is tackling the problem at its source not tackling the problem at the end of its sort of life cycle.”
He added that while many African negotiators are ambitious, not all are convinced of the need to tackle production.
This is an area where public engagement could be instrumental.
This sentiment was powerfully reinforced by Jacob Attakpah, Zero Waste Cities Manager at GAYO in Ghana, who brought the issue to life with powerful statistics.
“ In Ghana, over a million tons of plastic waste is generated annually and less than 10% of that is recycled.” He stated.
He stressed that Ghana’s waste is primarily made up of single-use plastics like water packaging, carrier bags, plastic cutlery, and even food containers,underscoring the necessity of controlling production.
“This leaves the country with a massive accumulation of waste, threatening to turn beaches into plastics instead of sand.”
Attakpah’s call to action was therefore two-fold: an urgent plea for a legally binding cap on plastic production globally and the establishment of a dedicated multilateral fund to enable African countries to implement the treaty.
A Call for Justice: Livelihoods, Health, and a Just Transition
For many, the plastic crisis is a matter of environmental justice.
Sarah Onuoha, Program and Logistics Manager at SRADeV Nigeria, connected plastic pollution directly to “public health and livelihood.”
She urged to report on the need for “technology transfer even financial support and also capacity building to help countries move away from plastic without harming also our economy and also something that can increase poverty one way or other.”
Her organization’s work in Nigeria highlights how the burden of pollution falls on the most vulnerable, creating a need for systemic solutions that are not only environmentally sound but also socially equitable.
Unregulated menace
Referencing data from the Norwegian Academy of Science, Rico Euripidou, campaigner at GroundWork South Africa, drew attention to a disturbing oversight in global plastic regulation:
over 16,500 chemicals are currently used in plastic products, yet fewer than 1% are meaningfully regulated.
Of these, more than 4,200 have been identified as hazardous linked to cancer, hormone disruption, and environmental harm.
“Basically, we have a plastics industry globally that is totally unregulated in terms of its production,” Euripidou said.
“Even more importantly is the invisible hazard the chemicals in those plastics.”
He stressed that chemical safety must not be sidelined in the rush to promote recycling.
Referring to regional NGO studies, Euripidou warned that hazardous substances persist even in second hand consumer goods.
“If we don’t know what chemicals are in plastic, when we recycle plastic, we are recycling toxic chemicals into things like toys.”
A United Front: The Fight for Funding and Sovereignty
Beyond the on-the-ground realities, the African Group of negotiators has been a leading voice in demanding the necessary political and financial mechanisms for a successful treaty.
Naidoo highlighted that at the last negotiation session, INC-5.1, a progressive majority of over 100 countries called for production measures, and critically, “over 151 countries support[ed] a financial mechanism with a dedicated fund.”
The African Group, she noted, was instrumental in garnering this support.
Attakpah further explained the necessity of this dedicated fund, arguing that many African countries are “saddled with huge debts and would find it very difficult… to cough up funds to be able to implement a treaty.”
The burden, he insisted, must fall on “countries that can and should because historically they have been you know the big polluters.”
This is not just a financial demand, but a call for historical accountability and a restoration of equity in a global system that has long favoured polluters over the polluted.
This push for ambition, however, is being met with resistance.
Naidoo described a “small minority group of countries” trying to “push this process to focus on waste management and false solutions.”
These states, she said, have been actively “rejecting production caps” and trying to “weaponize the right to development” to protect their pro-chemical interests.
The process is being held “hostage by calling for a consensus-only decision-making procedure” which she explained means that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and until everyone agrees to it.
This effectively giving a few countries a veto over the will of the progressive majority.
The right to vote is therefore seen as the “only way to guarantee that countries can maintain their sovereignty and their ambition in this process.”
An Unmistakably Bold Voice
As African delegates head to Geneva, the message from civil society is united and resolute.
They are demanding a strong, legally binding treaty that addresses the entire lifecycle of plastics, from production to disposal.
They are calling for ambitious, legally binding caps on production and the creation of a dedicated fund to support the countries most impacted by the crisis.
It is a testament to the fact that the Global Plastics Treaty is not just another piece of international policy.
For Africa, it is a matter of life and death, of justice and sovereignty, and a chance to chart a new path toward a sustainable future for all.
