Nov. 9, 2026

From Small Towns to a Global Treaty

How many times have you heard it? "We'll never see that in our lifetime."

People say it about ocean protection, coral reefs, kelp forests, endangered species coming back. Andrew admits he's said it himself. But the people who actually make big things happen are the ones who hear that line and say, "I hear you. I don't believe you."

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But it always starts with a community, sometimes a small one, and small communities can lead to much bigger action.

This week has been about finding your place in that community. Today, we zoom all the way out.

The ocean nobody was protecting

Every coastal country has an exclusive economic zone that runs from the shore out to 200 nautical miles. Canada, with the longest coastline in the world, is responsible for a lot of ocean.

Beyond those zones lie the high seas, about two-thirds of the ocean. For decades, no single body was responsible for protecting the life there. Enforcement seemed impossible. Satellites were improving, but you can't put a patrol boat on every part of the ocean, and people got away with a lot, from illegal fishing to forced labour at sea.

When Andrew was coming up in marine biology, the answer was always the same: too many countries, too many interests. Not in our lifetime.

He had good reason to be skeptical. Look at Antarctica, where the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources needs every member to agree before anything changes. When the US and New Zealand proposed a marine protected area in the Ross Sea, it took years of negotiation, with some countries blocking it because they wanted to keep fishing there. It was finally adopted in 2016. If getting two dozen countries plus the EU to agree was that hard, how would the whole world ever agree?

Then it happened

In March 2023, after nearly two decades of effort, countries agreed on the High Seas Treaty. When Ambassador Rena Lee of Singapore, who led the final negotiations, brought down the gavel, the moment was emotional for everyone who had worked so long to get there.

The treaty needed 60 ratifications to take effect. It hit that mark in September 2025 and became international law on January 17, 2026. On September 23, 2026, Canada ratified it too, part of a wave that pushed the treaty past 100 countries.

So now, when someone says a global treaty will never happen, Andrew's answer is different. Maybe not this year, or next year. But with enough push, it can, and it probably will.

It takes people with patience, resilience and the ability to compromise. World events can slow things down or knock them off course. Powerful interests try to stall them. But when it comes to decisions about everyone's health, the people profiting from the problem shouldn't get the final say. The people who want things to change should.

The ladder

So how does a global plastics treaty actually get built? Think of it as a ladder.

Rung one: the town

Tofino, BC, the surf town we visited earlier this week, has spent a decade banning single-use plastics one item at a time. Its newest campaign, the Mug Movement, takes aim at plastic and bioplastic coffee cups and lids.

Rung two: the province

In BC, towns have more power than they used to. Since 2021, municipalities can ban items like checkout bags, straws and foam takeout containers on their own. Anything beyond that list, including single-use cups, still needs the province's sign-off.

That's where local wins become the argument. Advocates can go to the province and say: we've proven this works. The beaches are cleaner, people are fine with it, and businesses are already doing it. Instead of making every town ask one by one, do it province-wide.

Rung three: the country

Canada has already banned six categories of single-use plastic: checkout bags, cutlery, takeout and foodservice ware, six-pack rings, stir sticks and straws, with exemptions for people who need plastic straws.

Industry took the government to court, arguing Ottawa didn't have the power to do this under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. Industry won the first round in 2023, but the ban stayed in place while the government appealed. On January 30, 2026, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled unanimously that Ottawa does have that authority.

Andrew's read is that the companies weren't really fighting over straws and stir sticks. They were worried about what comes next. And there's more to come in court, too: in October 2026, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear industry's appeal. The ban stays in place in the meantime.

If the ruling holds, Ottawa can go further: tackling harmful chemicals, banning more items, investing in refill and reuse systems, and dealing with ghost gear.

Rung four: the world

A town can't cap global plastic production. Neither can a province. But thousands of local wins around the world made it obvious that a global agreement was needed, and that enough people wanted one. That's how the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations began.

Negotiators ran five rounds in two years, in five different countries, and learned the problem was bigger than many expected. Researchers have catalogued about 16,000 chemicals in plastics, and around 4,200 of them are considered chemicals of concern.

At the Busan round in late 2024, more than 100 countries backed a path toward a global target for cutting plastic production. One proposal from Rwanda and Peru called for a 40% cut by 2040. Imagine what that would mean for our lives.

Who's in the way

A handful of oil-producing countries keep blocking progress, backed by the fossil fuel lobby.

There's no conflict of interest rule keeping industry lobbyists out of the talks. The Center for International Environmental Law counted about 220 fossil fuel and chemical lobbyists registered for Busan, the most at any round to that point, and 234 at the next round in Geneva in 2025. Meanwhile, civil society groups have been shut out of the closed-door meetings leading up to the next formal round, set for March 13 to 24, 2027, with the venue still to be announced.

Here's how Andrew sees it: the more lobbyists show up, the more it tells you the treaty is a real threat to their business. They're worried. That's a sign this can work.

And if the UN process stalls, the most ambitious countries could decide not to wait. There's been open talk of a coalition of the willing, a group of countries that agree to strong rules among themselves. That would hit the fossil fuel and chemical industries' bottom line hard.

What it looks like where you live

Andrew always comes back to the same question: how do I do this locally?

He's seen what local buy-in looks like. While working with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and on secondment to Environment Canada, he sat in on biodiversity assessment meetings for Lake Superior. The communities there love their lake. Stores are named after it, signs celebrate it, and the people running those assessments told him those communities were the most engaged they worked with.

Now imagine that energy pointed at plastic. A town on Georgian Bay like Collingwood, or one on Lake Ontario. Get local businesses on board. Get one council to say yes, then another. Then take that proof to the province.

Every rung starts with a few people in one town. It takes time, and you have to be realistic and show how the change benefits the people you're asking. But once the public is behind something, it gets very hard for bigger governments to say no. Whatever their party, elected officials eventually have to follow what the people want.

Your action before the weekend

Email your MP. Surfrider Foundation Canada has a ready-made action alert on its Take Action page. The message is simple: the federal government has the authority to tackle plastic pollution, so be ambitious.

If you're in Ontario or near the Great Lakes, think back to Tuesday's episode. Maybe your town needs a Surfrider chapter. You don't have to live in BC, Atlantic Canada or California. Surfrider has a structure and support system for new chapters, and if you'd rather start your own community group, that counts too.

If we don't step up, plastic production is projected to almost triple by 2060, and more of it will end up in our water and our bodies. Some of the chemicals in plastic are linked to cancer and other health problems.

But if we keep climbing, Canada can lead. Lots of countries can. And they can show the world that a strong economy and a healthy environment can grow together.

Looking back at the week

This week started with Lilly Woodbury of Surfrider Foundation Canada, and everything since has come back to community: finding your place, finding people who want to act, and learning that you can start wherever you are. If you missed Monday's conversation with Lilly, start there, then listen to the rest of the week.

And tell Andrew: what's one thing you're going to do after this week? Look for a group? Start one? Do you feel inspired, or not? There's no judgment either way. He just wants to hear from you.

Takeaways

"Not in our lifetime" was the answer on the high seas, until the High Seas Treaty became law in 2026 and passed 100 countries
Big treaties take patience, resilience, compromise and public pressure
Plastic bans climb a ladder: town, province, country, world
Canada's single-use plastics ban survived a Federal Court of Appeal challenge; the Supreme Court will hear the next round
More than 100 countries back cutting plastic production, while a few oil producers block it
Heavy lobbyist turnout means industry sees the treaty as a real threat
Your action: email your MP and ask for ambitious federal action on plastics

Sources

Andrew Lewin

CEO

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