Plastic-production emissions could triple to one-fifth of Earth’s carbon budget – report

Exclusive: By the middle of the century, pollution from plastic industry could ‘undermine world’s effort’ to control climate crisis

By the middle of the century, global emissions from plastic production could triple to account for one-fifth of the Earth’s remaining carbon budget, an analysis has found.

The stunning new estimates from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, published Wednesday, provide yet more evidence the plastic industry is “undermining the world’s efforts to address climate change”, said Heather McTeer Toney, executive director of the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Beyond Petrochemicals campaign, which helped fund the new report.