About Us

The Scientists' Coalition is an independent network of scientists hosted by IKHAPP.org

Goal and Objectives

The Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty is a network of independent scientific and technical experts seeking to contribute to the treaty process with summaries and interpretations of scientific knowledge to decision makers and the public involved in the negotiations towards a global plastics treaty. The Coalition was formed in 2022, following the decision of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) to start the negotiations towards a treaty to end plastic pollution.

The Scientists’ Coalition has the following goal and objectives:

Goal

To achieve an effective global plastics treaty anchored in and centered around robust evidence-based decision-making and the precautionary principle, pursuant to UNEA Resolution 5/14.

Objectives

To mobilise a diverse, international, and transdisciplinary network of scientific experts to engage with and provide scientific evidence, evaluations and guidance to government delegations and the wider public throughout the treaty negotiations.

To identify and address biases, misunderstandings or misrepresentations of scientific data in order to enable an informed negotiation process.

The Scientists' Coalition engages with the treaty negotiations in three ways

Scientists from the Coalition participate in external public events such as online meetings, webinars and workshops, providing technical and scientific expertise on issues related to plastics pollution, from upstream reduction to downstream waste management and remediation.

The Coalition seeks to share expertise and knowledge with governments and delegations to the Plastics Treaty, both through physical meetings during the negotiations and online in the intersessional periods.

This element includes ad hoc drafting of short white papers or one-page opinion pieces on specific subjects as needed in order to support the negotiations and provide access to up-to-date scientific information.

Organization

The Scientists’ Coalition is currently led by an interim Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is responsible for the direction of work of the Scientists’ Coalition and approves outputs from the working groups.

Interim Steering Committee Members:

  • Bethanie Carney-Almroth, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
  • Ibrahim Issifu, The University of British Columbia, Canada
  • Jane Muncke, Food Packaging Forum, Switzerland
  • Marina Fernandez, Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (IBYME-CONICET), Argentina
  • Martin Wagner, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
  • Nihan Karali, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
  • Richard Thompson, University of Plymouth, UK
  • Rufino Varea, The University of the South Pacific, Fiji
  • Sedat Gündoğdu, Çukurova University, Turkey
  • Shahriar Hossain, Environment and Social Development Organization, Bangladesh
  • Trisia Farrelly, Massey University, New Zealand

The Steering Committee is responsible for the overarching strategy and outputs of the Scientists’ Coalition. The Steering Committee is elected at the Annual General Meeting. At present an interim steering committee is in place until an election can be held. 

Scientists’ Coalition Expert Working Groups: The work of the Scientists’ Coalition is organised in working groups. The working groups are managed two co-chairs on core scientific topics related to the Plastics Treaty process. Membership of the working groups are open to Scientists’ Coalition members that can document relevant scientific expertise and a declaration on Conflicts of Interest.

The Coalition Secretariat supports the flow of work, ensuring disclosures of interest are kept up to date, meetings, document management and membership outreach. 

The Secretariat for the Coalition is hosted in the International Knowledge Hub Against Plastic Pollution (IKHAPP) – a joint initiative between several research organisations.