The Plastics & Climate Project
Identifying the data gaps to account for all the climate impacts of plastics
Publications
New Report:
Plastics: Exposing Their Climate Impacts
What we know, what we need to know, & recommendations for research and policy
This is the first report to comprehensively assess the existing peer-reviewed data on the climate impacts of plastics. The report analyzes existing peer-reviewed data, identifies critical data gaps, lays out a roadmap for continued research, and recommends policies and actions to support that research and to include plastics’ climate impacts in relevant models, scenarios, accounting, and analyses.
The report is authored by The Plastics and Climate Project's Holly Kaufman and Dr. Xia (Alice) Zhu, and the Environmental Law Institute (Cecilia Diedrich and Dr. John Doherty), with key input from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Dr. Karen Raubenheimer, University of Wollongong, Australia. The report is a non-technical summary of The Project’s peer-reviewed paper, “The knowns and unknowns in our understanding of how plastics impact climate change: A systematic review,” published in April 2025 in Frontiers of Environmental Science.
These publications outline the current understanding of how plastics affect the climate across their lifecycle, through the emission of greenhouse gases, impacts on the carbon cycle, and through radiative effects. The authors highlight significant data gaps in quantifying these impacts and propose a research agenda to address these shortcomings. They emphasize the need for more comprehensive studies on greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of the plastic lifecycle, the effects of plastic pollution on carbon sinks in various ecosystems, and the influence of plastic particles on Earth's energy balance.
The report offers recommendations for public and private sector actions to spur the needed research and to ensure that the climate impacts of plastics are considered in relevant assessments and policies. The findings and proposals are intended to raise awareness and motivate action by policymakers, scientists, industry, investors, educators, and non-governmental and community representatives.
Please access the report here.
See what the experts are saying about the report.
The Plastics & Climate Project has compiled an annotated repository of climate-relevant plastic impacts. It is an ever-growing compendium of peer-reviewed papers, other reports, and articles reviewed and grouped into the three major categories of impacts. Please learn more about the repository here.
The Plastics & Climate Project hopes to launch an extensive strategic outreach campaign to disseminate their findings and recommendations. The Project is also in discussion with several key institutions about conducting some of the needed scientific research to fill in the data gaps, and plans to continually update the free, online repository of resources on the plastics/climate nexus. Your support is needed to pursue these efforts, and much appreciated.
Please donate here or contact us.
Read the full report.
Read the executive summary.
Read the press release.
Read the report brief.
Read the Washington Post article.
Read the Frontiers in Environmental Science paper.
"Plastics: Exposing Their Climate Impacts"
The Plastics & Climate Project launched their report and paper on May 14, 2025. The World Resources Institute (WRI) hosted the event at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), with viewers around the world.
In addition to the Project Directors, speakers are:
U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
Angela Anderson, WRI
Dr. Sweta Chakraborty, Panel Moderator
Panelists:
Jo Banner, The Descendants Project
Zachary Byrum, WRI
Dr. John Doherty, Environmental Law Institute
Monica Medina, Former Assistant Secretary of State