The Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty is a diverse international network of independent scientific and technical experts contributing scientific knowledge to achieve an effective global plastics treaty. It was formed in 2022 following the decision of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) Resolution 5/14 to start negotiations towards a global instrument to end plastic pollution.
The Scientists’ Coalition works together with a clear aim:
To achieve an effective global plastics treaty guided by robust evidence-based decision-making pursuant to UNEA Resolution 5/14.
To organize a diverse, international, and transdisciplinary network of independent scientific and technical experts to provide scientific evidence and guidance to member state delegations throughout the treaty negotiations.
To synthesize and present robust, independent scientific evidence to member state delegations. Our work presents the state of the science, and identifies and addresses biases, misunderstandings, and misrepresentations of scientific data to enable evidence-based decision making.
As a coalition of scientists and technical experts, we have robust conflict of interest and transparency policies, and we are bound to the highest professional standards of scientific independence and rigor. Disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest members may have is crucial to upholding the Coalition’s values, ensuring its legitimacy and credibility and making clear the position from which our members speak.
Our members agree to abide by a common framework reflecting the values, behaviours, attitudes, and conduct we uphold ourselves to including: transparency, robust and independent science, truthfulness and accuracy, as well as respect and inclusivity.
We recognize that diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) are critical to achieving our mission of an effective global plastics treaty guided by robust evidence-based decision-making pursuant to UNEA Resolution 5/14. DEI enriches our work and contributes to our success.
The Scientists’ Coalition is led by a Steering Committee. This group is responsible for shaping and implementing the Coalition’s overarching strategy with input from its members. It is responsible for the approval of outputs from the working groups and is democratically elected by all members on an annual basis.
Hideshige Takada, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan (2024-2025)
Conrad Sparks, Centre for Sustainable Oceans, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), South Africa (2024-2025)
Costas Velis, Imperial College London, United Kingdom (2024-2025)
A team of Coordinators lead the organization of the Coalition’s efforts and are elected annually by the Steering Committee.
A team of Coordinators lead the organization of the Coalition’s efforts and is elected annually by the Steering Committee.
The Coalition’s daily administration and operations are supported by a dedicated Secretariat. They guide the flow of tasks, ensure conflict of interest disclosures are kept up to date, serve as a first point of contact for external requests, and help to coordinate meetings, document management, and membership outreach.
Members within the Scientists’ Coalition collaborate within working groups. These are each coordinated by co-leaders and focus on a scientific topic relevant to the treaty negotiations process. Membership of the working groups is open to all Scientists’ Coalition members that have provided a current declaration on Conflicts of Interest.
The Coalition’s daily administration and operations are supported by a dedicated Secretariat. They guide the flow of tasks, ensure conflict of interest disclosures are kept up to date, serve as a first point of contact for external requests, and help to coordinate meetings, document management, and membership outreach.
Members within the Scientists’ Coalition collaborate within working groups. These are each coordinated by co-leaders and focus on a scientific topic relevant to the treaty negotiations process. Membership of the working groups is open to all Scientists’ Coalition members that have provided a current declaration on Conflicts of Interest.
Members of the Scientists’ Coalition are independent scientists actively conducting and publishing peer-reviewed research with relevance to plastic pollution.
Members have signed the Scientists’ Declaration on the Need for Governance of Plastics Throughout their Lifecycles, have declared all potential conflicts of interest, and comply with the Scientist Coalition’s values, including its strict conflict of interest and transparency policy and code of conduct.
The Scientists’ Coalition is a largely voluntary science body. The Coalition has accepted limited funding for operating costs from funders who do not compromise our capacity to act independently and in the public’s interest. These include independent philanthropic organisations such as Clare Foundation and the Paul M Angell Family Foundation.
Individual members of the Scientists’ Coalition are active plastic pollution researchers and some support the work of the Coalition with their own funding. Most of our members volunteer hundreds of hours of their time and self-fund travel to INCs and other relevant meetings and events. All our members’ conflict of interest declarations are regularly reviewed.
If you are an independent donor who shares our aspirations for an evidence-based global plastics treaty, please contact us: secretariat@scientistscoalition.org
