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Short Abstract

Citizen scientists and the vast knowledge they produced about plastic pollution were largely not considered during the United Nation’s “plastics treaty” negotiations – a result of a lack of civil society presenting themselves as knowledge holders.

Abstract

Citizen scientists have contributed substantially to our understanding of the global plastic pollution crisis. International initiatives such as the International Coastal Cleanup, Marine Debris Tracker, Marine Litter Watch, the Científicos de la Basura and the Plastic Pirates have involved thousands of citizen scientists, partially since decades, and have collected valuable research data about the extent of plastic pollution in different environments and the impact of policy measures and legislation. Currently, efforts are undertaken to develop and adopt a “global plastics treaty”, meaning a legally binding document to effectively address plastic pollution at the international level. So far, six negotiation sessions have been concluded without an agreement between United Nation’s Member States. In this contribution we evaluate the pathway of citizen science knowledge and engagement throughout the treaty negotiations. While some states (such as Mexico) emphasized the value of citizen science, we found little evidence that this research approach played a meaningful role during the negotiations, for example in public plenaries or in contact groups discussing treaty articles. Representatives of civil society (e.g. environmental NGOs, youth groups, waste pickers) voiced their concerns about plastic pollution during the negotiations, but rarely assumed the role of knowledge producers and holders. Indigenous people on the other hand leveraged their position for an ambitious treaty by presenting themselves as rights and knowledge holders. Industry representatives and lobbyists, supporting an unambitious treaty, similarly leveraged their position by producing reports (among finding other impactful engagement opportunities). We suggest that meaningful consideration of knowledge produced by civil society during the plastics treaty negotiations requires (i) actors to form alliances that represent themselves as knowledge holders, (ii) limiting the influence of actors with vested interests, and (iii) ensuring procedural justice, so that actors from civil society have a voice apart from being considered as concerned citizens or vulnerable populations.