On September 4, 2023, the United Nations unveiled the Zero Draft of the Global Plastics Treaty. This text is designed to guide and support the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee at their upcoming meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, in November, the goal being to have a formal treaty in place by the end of 2024. The initial draft is just that, a draft. So far, it seems promising that vital elimination and reduction topics are now firmly on the agenda. However, the outline of interventions is not nearly specific enough to get us to the goal of ending plastic pollution.

On the 15th of September, with little fanfare or explanation, the European Plastic Pact announced that it would cease operating. In this article, Emma Samson, marketing communications manager at Searious Business, asks: if the Plastic Pact covering the largest and arguably the most-circular economic region in the world cannot succeed in its objectives, is there any hope for other voluntary actions?