There is broad agreement among negotiators of the plastics treaty around establishing a just transition for waste pickers, Indigenous Peoples and other grassroots groups as a key tenet of the agreement. Achieving this requires a well designed finance mechanism which places funds directly in the hands of these groups, who are central to achieving the treaty's objectives.
Historically, finance mechanisms of international treaties have been difficult for grassroots groups and even some national governments to access, despite strong evidence that community-led approaches are highly cost effective and impactful. However, recent years have seen a proliferation of promising changes when it comes to access, and this is having ripple effects across the multilateral environmental agreement landscape. There are clear lessons for negotiators to take heed of as the plastics treaty finance mechanism is designed.
With appropriate treaty text regarding the aims of the finance mechanism to guide it, a new independent fund would have the freedom to establish accessible and predictable finance modalities along the lines of those considered in this paper and to set aside a portion of its funding for disbursement via these modalities to grassroots groups including waste pickers. With appropriate language that allows for future innovations in the medium term, this fund could secure contributions from the private sector ensuring it remains adequately resourced to achieve its aims.
