From Small Towns to a Global Treaty

0:00 How many times have you heard the following sentence? "We'll never see that in our lifetime." I may have actually said that, And it's all referring to ocean protection or coral reef protection or kelp protection or, marine mammal protection, species at risk, come back or anything like that and it's, kind of interesting when we hear that because it's just haters. It's just people who don't think that things can happen. But I always feel like the people who make things happen like this are the people who disrupt, who say, "You know what? I hear what you're saying, but I don't believe you. I feel like there's something that we can do." I've been someone who's said that before where I'm like, "Yeah, no, I don't believe it.

0:42 I'm gonna go ahead and do it." And I've tried, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But it takes a community, sometimes a small community, and sometimes that small community can lead towards bigger action. and today I'm gonna tell you, about a treaty that I thought I would never see in my lifetime, and why that same thing can happen for plastics. So we're gonna talk about that on today's episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. I am your host, Andrew Lewin. I'm a marine biologist and science communicator that loves to talk about the ocean. And if you are here listening to this podcast, if this is your first time, welcome. But that means you kinda wanna know how to protect the ocean. It's in the name, This is what we're gonna be talking about today. But if you've been with us for a little bit, whether it's a week, two weeks, three years, four years, 10 years, 11 years, you know what I'm here to talk about.

1:27 It's about ocean news, ocean science, ocean conservation, and how you can learn how to protect the ocean, That's really what it comes down to. and this week, we've been helping you find your place, within the ocean conservation community, How to start to get, into a community where people believe the same thing you believe. You can get outdoors, you can do things together, you can actually make changes with these types of communities, and it's great. And we talked about a town that won, and we talked about changing that conversation from a negative, "You can't do this," or, "You're a hypocrite for this," to being like, "No, no, I'm gonna try and change things." And today, we zoom out, like all the way out, and we are gonna talk about a treaty that I never thought I'd see, but we're actually starting to see come into place.

2:10 We're gonna talk about some of the challenges that happened, but also, some of the cool things that have been, coming into place in different countries that we've seen piece by piece, which is gonna lead up to a better, better treaty. Now, for years, people in ocean conservation talked about protecting the high seas, again, talk about something I never thought I'd see. The ocean beyond those country borders, beyond the exclusive economic zone. So every country has an exclusive economic zone, an EEZ, that goes from shore to 200 nautical miles out. I live in Canada. We have the longest coastline in the world. So we have a pretty big area of ocean that Canada is in charge of. Anything beyond that, nobody's in charge, Unless it comes up to an EEZ for another country, Now that for a long time, I remember when growing up in the business, like in the industry, in the field of marine biology, I remember talking to people and like, "Enforcement's, like, difficult.

2:59 It's such a big ocean, 71% of the planet. we don't have the capability. Satellites, we're getting better and better, and they've gotten better, but they're still not perfect. We can't cover boats on every part of the ocean. And people can get away with a lot, from fisheries slavery to, illegal fishing there's a whole number of different acts, that are not good, of course. but almost two-thirds of the ocean is in the high seas, and nobody's in charge of protecting it. and I remember, talking to a lot of people, it's like, "This may not happen in our lifetime." And for years, that was the answer. That's what we thought, Not in our lifetime. Too many countries, too many interests. and it's kinda interesting 'cause you look at, like, a continent like Antarctica, and, like, nobody's really in charge of it, but there's, like, 24 countries.

3:41 CMAR, I think. And it's 24 countries have to agree to put in anything, to change anything within Antarctica. and I remember the Ross MPA that went in, the Marine Protected Area that went in, number of years ago. It took over 10 years to get that implemented because certain countries wouldn't agree, because they want to fish in that area, but it was gonna be banned of fishing. And so when they finally agreed for whatever reason, it took about 10 years and they were able to put that in. But it's 24 countries. How do you get 24 countries to agree, let alone the rest of the world to agree, But then it actually happened The High Seas Treaty was agreed upon. And I remember people, like the gavel went down. There's a YouTube video. The gavel went down. The woman who hit the gavel down started crying because sh- she was so emotional because she'd been working on it for over a decade, And then the countries ratified it.

4:30 You need 60 countries to ratify it. We're at 100 countries as we speak today. Over 100 countries. And on January 17th, 2026, it became international law with more than over 100 countries joining. And on September 23rd, 2026, Canada, my country, ratified it too. I didn't think that was gonna happen anytime soon. And I was like, "Oh, wow, so this thing can happen." I've seen things have taken, like, decades for it to happen, and they've actually happened. So now, when I look at global treaties, if they're being put forward, I'm like, "Okay, this actually could happen." People are like, "It's never gonna happen. It's never gonna happen." Maybe not this year, maybe not next year, maybe not the year after, but it can happen at some point, and it probably will if there's enough push for it.

5:13 There have to be some amazing people with patience, resilience, ability to compromise. There are world events that happen that can derail it, that can change it, that can slow it down, these treaties and the negotiation process. But we can do this. Like, we could really do this. And even though they feel this isn't, they're slow, and maybe we're taking too long to do certain things, 'cause they're controlled by powerful interest groups. But, like, I always look at it and I'm like, " I don't care. I think this can actually happen," And 'cause, like, this is about health. and, like, decisions about everyone's health shouldn't be made by the people profiting from the problem. They should be made by the people who want things to change.

5:55 They wanna be healthy, Now let me show you how a plastic ban in a little town climbs, for the first rung, let's look at this ladder, So the town, Tofino, BC, covered it earlier this week. Has spent 10 years banning single-use plastics one item at a time. And its news campaign, called the Mug Movement, aims to ban plastic and bioplastic coffee cups and lids. Now the second rung, the province. so here's the catch. In BC, a town can't just ban an item. It has to ask the province for permission, which is really weird. So the town's advocates go to the province and say, "Let's not make every town ask one by one. We've proven that we can do it and the ban works and we don't have to clean up the beaches anymore."

6:38 If you remember two episodes ago we talked about that. And, people are fine with it. The businesses are doing it. Now we can do it province-wide. so that's done at the provincial level. Now rung three, the country level, the national level. Canada already banned six categories of single-use plastics. Your checkout bags, cutlery, food serviceware, six-pack rings, stir sticks, and straws. Like, we don't see them at all anymore. The plastic straws in certain cases because there are people who need it. But the chemical industry took the government to court based off of this, arguing that Ottawa didn't have the power to ban plastics under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, CEPA. And on January 30th, 2026, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled unanimously that it does. Now I have to admit, it was interesting because at one point when the chemical and fossil fuel industry took the government to court, they won.

7:24 Like, the government lost. and then it went to appeal. But during that whole time, the ban was in place. So everybody, like, as the phase-in rules came in, everybody had to, uh, go by the ban. So this was happening. the companies, the chemical and the fossil fuel companies didn't necessarily care about the single-use plastics that were going. They were worried about what was gonna happen next, and that they were gonna have other plastics that were gonna be banned in the future. So that's what they're interested in. They're not stupid people. They know what they're doing. And so they may not care about the single-use plastics, that much. They may be fine with it, but they're worried about something else, so they're okay with putting it all back in. That's how much they don't care. They just want money, So that means now that, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled unanimously that the government does have the ability to do that, that means Ottawa can go further.

8:08 It can tackle harmful chemicals, banning more items, investing in refill and reuse, and dealing with ghost gear. So now we got the town, the province, the country, and now rung four is the world. a town can't cap plastic production. They can just ban it from using it within their area. Neither can a province, but thousands of local wins around the world made it obvious that there is a need for a global agreement. There's enough people out there that want a change, and that's how the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations began. I remember having people on talking about this treaty, how important it was, and they wanted to get it right in the first try, and they had, like, five negotiations within a year, all in different countries.

8:50 And it was really cool because, like, they realized that the problem is bigger than we thought. About 16,000 chemicals are found in plastics, and around 4,200 of those are hazardous to human health. And at the Busan talks in late 2024, more than 100 countries backed a path to a global target of cutting plastic production. Advocates see, like, a 40% cut by 2040 as a realistic goal. Imagine that, what that would do for our lives. And a handful of oil-producing countries, backed by the fossil fuel lobby, keep blocking the process. They keep sending their lobbyists to these, and they had one at one point in Ottawa. I remember, speaking with an Oceana Canada person, and he was like, "Hey." He's like, "When I was at the global treaty negotiations, there was, these people from different countries." It it was from Mexico or somewhere else.

9:37 It wasn't from Canada. And they were, around these signs. They had put up these signs. They were paid by the fossil fuel industry to be like, talk about how plastics can help, and, like, they had, like, needles and all this kind of stuff. And of course, that's not the plastics they're looking to ban. And then, so he went up and he said, "Hey," like, " why are you doing this? You know there's, like, a lot of plastics," like, and the guy was like, "Yeah, no, I know. Like, it's in my town, but they paid me to do it. They had me come here and they paid me good money to do it." And what they were doing is they were taking people who weren't from Canada, who maybe live in a country that may be not be fully developed or whatever. I don't remember where the guy was from. And they, have people there to be like, "Hey, yeah, there are people here who want plastics," because they pay him, because he needs the money and he wants a job.

10:19 They're sneaky, these guys, And so it's kind of an interesting thing, and there's no conflict of interest clause keeping the industry lobbyists out of these talks, A record 120 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists, registered for the Busan talks. Meanwhile, civil society groups have been shut out of the closed door meetings leading up to the next round, set for March 13th to the 24th, in 2027, with the venue still to be announced. So they're not even allowed to be there. The more the lobbyist groups show up, the more it tells you the treaty is a real threat to their business, and that's a sign that this can work. They are afraid. And if the UN process stalls, the most ambitious countries could form their own treaty. So it's gonna be really interesting to see, like, what's gonna happen in the future.

11:03 'Cause at some point, there are gonna be countries who want it. There are a lot of countries who want it, and they're gonna start to make some decisions. And they may not need the UN to do this, they may just do it on their own, which will severely impact the fossil fuel and chemical companies', like, bottom line Now, so what about, like, where I live? I always look at, like, how do I do this locally, like here in Ontario. And honestly, if I went to the provincial government right now and asked for a plastic ban, I don't think they would listen. We have a very conservative government, not that that matters, but they have come out and said, like, they want, plastic straws. the Premier Ford, who is the leader of our province, his brother, Rob Ford, when he was mayor of Toronto, would bring back or took away, like you had to pay a nickel for, 5 cents or 10 cents for a plastic bag. Nobody wanted to pay that, he said.

11:44 So they took that out, they phased that out, but I think that's changed again since they've left office. but, I just don't think they would listen because they're just not into it. But I've seen what local buy-in looks like. When I worked for DFO, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Environment Canada, I sat on biodiversity assessment meetings for Lake Superior, and it was really cool. Like, in Lake Superior, it's a deep lake, but it's area-wise, a small lake, but the community is, like, into Lake Superior. They are into it. They have signs all around. All their stores are Lake Superior this or Lake Superior that. They have tourist things. They love their great lake, and I think, like, when I was talking to a lot of people when I was with Environment Canada, I was doing, like, a secondment for them. I remember the people said, yeah, when they deal with that, that's their most, like, it's a community thing when they do their biodiversity assessments.

12:30 That is their most engaged community when they talk to them, because they love it, And it was amazing to see. It was amazing to hear. So imagine that energy pointed at plastic, a town in Georgian Bay like Collingwood, like a town, on Lake Ontario, or like get local businesses on board. Get one council to say yes, then another. Then you go to a province with proof, and that's the ladder that we just talked about. Every rung starts with a few people in one town. So it takes time, And you have to be realistic. You have to, present it so it's a benefit to them. So you win locally, one business, one council, one ban at a time. And use those local wins as proof, because once you get the people behind it, it's really hard for bigger governments to say no.

13:14 And then you push your MP to be like, "Hey, this is like your member of parliament or your federal representative," 'cause the federal government has that authority, And you ask that they use it And then you watch the global treaty, the Global Plastic Treaty, share updates, keep pressure on. that's the plan that we are looking at doing. And everybody can be involved because the more you show that support, the more it gets in front of, government officials to be like, "Oh, the people want this." At some point, it doesn't matter what party they're from, they have to go with what the people want. If they don't, they will get voted out. It doesn't matter the issue. If it becomes big enough and people, make a big enough stink about it, that's gonna be an issue, and they have to listen to the people, So what I want you to do is before the weekend, I want you to email your MP, Surfrider Canada has already made action alerts at surfrider.ca/actionalerts.

14:01 and with the message, like, the federal government has full authority to address plastic pollution, so be ambitious. They can do this. And if you're in Ontario or you're near the Great Lakes, think about Tuesday's episode. Maybe your own town needs a chapter at Surfrider Canada. Because, like, if we don't do this, if we don't step up, nobody will, and plastic production is gonna triple, and more of it's gonna end up in our water, in our bodies. It's gonna cause health problems later on, We know a lot of these are carcinogenic items. These are hazardous. But if we keep climbing, if we keep doing something, Canada can lead. United States can lead. There are a lot of countries that can lead, and they can show the world that a strong economy and a healthy environment can grow together.

14:45 And I think that's really, really important if you look at all this stuff we talked about this week, start off with interviewing Surfrider Canada, Lily Woodruff, and it was all about community. It was all about finding your place. It was all about saying, there are people who wanna take action, and if you wanna do that, you can join. You don't have to live in BC, you don't have to live in Atlantic Canada, you don't have to live in California, You can live anywhere around the world. You can start your own chapter if you want, whether it's a Surfrider chapter or your own community group, the benefit of Surfrider is it actually has, like, a structure and support, especially if you're part of a chapter or if you start a new chapter. They've figured out the way to start these chapters and succeed, if you haven't listened to Monday's episode with Lily Woodbury, go listen to it.

15:25 It's a great place to start. And then listen to the other episodes after to inspire you to get to make those changes, And I want you to tell me, connect with me, whether you're on Spotify in the comments or you're on your other favorite podcast app and you, wanna connect with me in my socials that are in the show notes. What's one thing you're gonna do after this week? After you've listened to these episodes, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna try and do something? Are you gonna try and look for a group? Try and do a group? I would love to know how you feel. Do you feel inspired? Do you not feel inspired? Doesn't matter. There's no judgment here. I just wanna know how you feel. And, yeah, that's it for today's episode. I wanna thank you so much for joining me for this week, this episode. Every time you join, it makes me happy. Every time you listen, every time you hit me back with a question or a comment, I love it.

16:07 It gets my adrenaline pumping because I know we're driving these conversations. We are being a community. And it's really hard to be a community on a podcast because I'm only speaking one way, so I love to hear you speaking the other way. Whether you agree with me or not, there's no judgment here. We can have a conversation about that as well. But I would love to hear from you, so hit me up on my socials. and I wanna thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Lewin. Have a great day. We'll talk to you next time, and happy conservation.