End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument

CCB • November 30, 2022

News from the first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee (INC) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.

30 November 2022, Punta del Este, Uruguay - Representatives of governments, civil society, business, academia and other stakeholders have gathered this week in Punta del Este, Uruguay, for the First meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-1) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.


Coalition Clean Baltic, and some of its Member Organizations, including the Swedish Society for the Nature Conservation, Ecoproject Partnership, and Ecoidea joined the negotiations along with many other civil society groups and movements around the world: IPEN, Break Free from Plastic, and Zero Waste Europe among the others.

Credit: IPEN

CCB believes that the Plastics Treaty process is an important opportunity to protect marine environment and public health from the harms of plastic, and ensure that global, and national control are in place to address the toxic impacts of chemicals and plastic, throughout their lifecycle.


At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the global ocean every year. Plastic pollution threatens food safety and quality, human health, coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change. Marine litter is a clearly visible problem for the Baltic Sea, and its coastline, and around 70% of the marine litter in the Baltic Sea is plastic.


“The current situation with plastics represents an example of unsustainable consumption and production model with harmful impacts on human health and the environment, especially on the marine environment”, comments Eugeniy Lobanov, CCB Hazardous Substances and Marine Litter Working Area Leader, and participant of INC 1 in Uruguay. He continues: "We advocate for a strong Plastic Treaty, which will address plastic pollution throughout the full lifecycle of plastics. We think that the future Treaty shall address the whole lifecycle of plastic as a material in general rather than addressing specific plastic products or waste. It is also important that the treaty shall address the harmful health effects from chemicals in plastics, and recognize that toxic chemicals make plastic incompatible with a circular economy approach.”



RESOURCES:


***
Article written by Eugeniy Lobanov, CCB Hazardous Substances Working Area Leader.

CCB´s submission to the EU Call for Evidence on the Ocean Act

By CCB • February 19, 2026
Uppsala, February 2025 - CCB supports the Ocean Pact and Ocean Act objectives for improving coherence, coordination and effectiveness of EU ocean governance. Yet, in order to achieve this, the Act has to deliver truly ecosystem-based management of our seas and make reaching Good Environmental Status, as defined in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), a cornerstone of the Act. The Ocean Act can set us on a path to recovery of the marine environment under a sustainable and just blue economy, but only if the Act includes the points outlined below and is implemented swiftly and fully.

From a destroyed greenhouse to a growing public garden: how donations found new life in Lviv

By CCB • December 18, 2025
In 2022, amid the devastation caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a small but meaningful crowdfunding initiative - #ASeedForReblooming - was launched to support landscape architect Nina Radchenko . Today, that initiative has evolved into a powerful contribution to urban sustainability and community resilience in Lviv.