CARICOM as the Coordination Mechanism for Caribbean Small Island Developing States Participating in the Global Plastics Treaty Negotiations

The specific processes involved in the Caribbean Community’s ( CARICOM ) role as a coordination mechanism for its Member States, composed of Caribbean Small Island Developing States ( SIDS ), participating in multilateral environmental agreement ( MEA ) negotiations are sparsely documented within academic literature. CARICOM Member States have increasingly suffered from the transboundary movement and deposition of plastic litter on their coastlines. The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee ( INC ) convened in November 2022 to develop an international legally binding instrument to manage plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. Known as the global plastics treaty, Caribbean SIDS face inequities in their ability to adequately prepare and participate in this negotiation forum. CARICOM ’s history of addressing environmental issues, notably through its participation in MEA s, has positioned CARICOM as a significant negotiating bloc in MEA meetings. This study classifies CARICOM ’s systematic coordination processes for preparing its Member States for MEA negotiations and assesses opportunities, challenges and limitations for CARICOM to serve as the coordination mechanism for preparing its Member States for the ongoing global plastics treaty negotiations.