A global plastics treaty could help clean up the Arctic

Global plastic pollution could triple by 2040 if nothing changes. In the Arctic, it is threatening marine ecosystems, food security, health and the human rights of Indigenous Peoples. Alaska residents ROSEMARY AHTUANGARUAK, VI WAGHIYI and PAMELA MILLER hope that an ambitious global plastics treaty in 2025 can control plastic production and eliminate the use of toxic chemicals.

Flames, belching smoke and black carbon in the sky—on nights when I (Rosemary) saw 20 or more flares, I knew sick people would be coming. As a community health aide in Nuiqsut, Alaska, when oil and gas operations were flaring, I would see a stream of people with respiratory issues. Before I was finished with one patient, I already had another. It got to the point where we were up all night helping people breathe.

Most people don’t think of plastics when they hear about increasing rates of respiratory illnesses and other health problems, but plastics create toxic hazards linked to many serious conditions. Within one lifetime, Arctic Indigenous communities have seen rates of various illnesses skyrocket due to toxic pollution from the interlinked plastics, chemicals and climate crises. Respiratory diseases, cancer, reproductive disorders and many other health problems now threaten our very existence.

As the First Peoples of Alaska, we have long been stewards of our land, air and waters. But our people are being exposed to toxic chemicals without our consent. We face some of the most drastic changes in the Arctic. These are burdens we did not create.

Plastics are made from fossil fuels and chemicals, and the oil and gas industries are betting on their continued use to grow their markets. Fossil fuels extracted from Alaska, often on or near Indigenous lands, expose Indigenous Peoples to toxic chemicals. Left unchecked, the petrochemical industry is projected to account for half of oil consumption by 2050. More plastics will mean more oil and gas and more health problems imposed on Indigenous Peoples.

As plastic waste disperses globally, microplastics and associated chemicals pose increasing threats to marine ecosystems, food security, health and the human rights of Indigenous Peoples, especially in the Arctic. A 2023 study found that microplastic levels are doubling in sediments of the Arctic Ocean every 23 years. Earlier this year, a story in the Anchorage Daily News noted that scientists had detected microplastics for the first time in the tissues of the Pacific walrus in the Bering and Chukchi seas. These animals are critical to the traditional diets of Indigenous Peoples in this region. Microplastics have also been found in our fish, seals, seabirds and whales—all species that are essential for our spiritual, physical and cultural sustenance.

Hoping the world can agree

The world is currently negotiating a global plastics treaty intended to protect human health and the environment from threats associated with plastics and the toxic chemicals they spread globally through their life cycles. An ambitious treaty would control plastic production and eliminate the use of toxic chemicals. Such measures would begin to rectify the environmental injustices experienced by Indigenous Peoples, benefit fenceline communities (those adjacent to pollution sources), and protect all of us who are exposed to toxic chemicals from plastics.

Negotiations are slated to wrap up by the end of 2024—and Alaska and its inhabitants can’t wait. The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the world, and in 2019, more than 70 of 200 Alaska Native villages were facing environmental threats from flooding, thawing permafrost and erosion. Alaska is home to 229 federally recognized tribes, and the linked threats of climate change, plastics, fossil fuels and petrochemicals imperil their cultures and livelihoods.

A global plastics treaty aimed at protecting our health and environment is a vital step in the drive to advance human rights and healthy communities. We must put an end to toxic plastic production and stop producing toxic petrochemicals before the planet is completely overwhelmed by plastic and chemical pollution. The world has an opportunity to move toward toxics-free solutions for a healthy planet.