He pitopito kōrero nā Matt Peryman
The final negotiations for the UN Global Plastics Treaty are upon us, and the stakes have never been higher. Plastics harm people from the moment oil is drilled through to the microplastics in your bloodstream. Effective solutions must begin at the source, with significant cuts to plastic production, fossil fuel extraction, and chemical manufacturing.
So why is it so hard for governments to take decisive and effective action?
The fossil fuel industry creates 99% of plastics. That means the same industry responsible for climate change is also responsible for plastic pollution.
The stranglehold that this industry wields over policymaking is unmatched, let alone undemocratic.
As has happened with climate change, well-funded industry propaganda machines constantly pump out misinformation that pollutes conversations around the Global Plastics Treaty, muddying the waters enough to prevent even some of the more ambitious policymakers from supporting the strong measures required to end plastic pollution.
Plastic pollution is a complex systemic issue rooted in overproduction, fossil fuel dependency, and colonial systems that have long disregarded the voices of Tāngata Whenua. These systems are based on values of extraction and exploitation that have enabled the fossil fuel industry to thrive. Even today, governments continue to provide the fossil fuel industry with subsidies to make plastics and fossil fuels cheap to mass produce and therefore highly profitable. Easy profit for the 1% at the expense of our collective health and futures.
Throughout negotiations, industry representatives have significantly outnumbered Indigenous Peoples, independent scientists, and civil society representatives alike. They occupy positions on several influential government delegations and work closely with many others. They plaster propaganda posters across every airport, street corner, and bus stop in every city where negotiations have taken place. Their influence is impossible to avoid.
Attending these negotiations as Indigenous representatives, we have been consistently silenced, ignored, locked out of negotiating rooms, and harassed by aggressive industry lobbyists. The marginalisation and maltreatment of Indigenous Peoples by both industry and government delegates have been reflected in the most recent draft of the Global Plastics Treaty, which has been stripped of all references to Indigenous rights and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
How can Indigenous Peoples be expected to support such a Treaty?
UNDRIP provides a global minimum standard for Indigenous rights, including our right to self-determination, our relationship with the environment, and our authority to give or withhold free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) over decisions that affect us. Without these protections embedded into the Global Plastics Treaty, Māori and Indigenous representatives risk being silenced and our rights violated, once again.
For Indigenous representatives in attendance, particularly those of us from Treaty nations, the UN system of blatantly ignoring their own policies reminds us of how colonial governments continue to openly violate their treaties with Indigenous nations.
The current New Zealand Government’s hostile position on Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a prime example of this. Colonial power wielded for the benefit of corporate interests, greed winning over collective health and well-being.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the basis for any government policy in Aotearoa and cannot be sidestepped or ignored. The NZ Government must remember, Māori are not just another “local community” or “civil society stakeholder”. We are mana whenua. We hold tino rangatiratanga, affirmed through Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Equally, Indigenous rights are not negotiable. The Global Plastics Treaty must reinstate and uphold UNDRIP, including all decision-making and implementation processes.
Para Kore stands firmly alongside our Indigenous whanaunga from across the world in calling for a just and rights-based Global Plastics Treaty that not only takes decisive action to end plastic pollution at its source, but also upholds the rights of Māori and all Indigenous Peoples.
Time is up for colonial and capitalist systems that depend on constant extraction, pollution, and waste. Our future is in truly circular systems grounded in tikanga Māori, free from toxic pollutants that we never needed in the first place.
Indigenous-led solutions are already working; they enabled Indigenous Peoples to thrive in the past, and they are our future. It’s time for the global system to catch up.