Petrochemicals

Plastic production remains the most resource-intensive area of petrochemicals. This puts a serious strain on the economy and the environment, and indirectly finances military conflicts, including Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Thus, the modern global energy system is at a turning point.

The brief documents how industry actors manipulate science, lobby policymakers, and undermine democratic decision-making to maintain profits at the expense of human and environmental health. It shares four case studies: PFAS — Suppressing Evidence of Toxicity, Bisophenol A (BPA) — Attacking Independent Science, Benzene — Front Groups and Policy Influence, Pesticides — Combined Disinformation Strategies.

Petrochemicals — fossil fuel-derived substances used in plastics, fertilizers, and synthetic materials — are a major, yet overlooked driver of Europe’s environmental, health, and climate crises. The report reveals how petrochemicals undermine EU commitments across sectors and highlights how powerful industry lobbies are pushing for deregulation and subsidies under the guise of “clean tech,” while expanding infrastructures.

The Fact Sheet unpacks why petrochemicals can no longer be relied on as a growth engine. Despite mounting evidence of structural overcapacity, erratic demand, and falling margins, capacity additions continue across regions, especially in Asia-Pacific.

This report exposes how some of the world’s largest petrochemicalcompanies are expanding production while flooding the treaty negotiationswith hundreds of lobbyists in an effort to weaken ambition and shiftattention onto false solutions like chemical recycling.

Every Breath You Take: Air Pollution Risks from Petrochemical Production for the Plastics Supply Chain

The oil, gas, and petrochemical industry wields substantial power in both the climate and plastics treaty negotiations, and has used that power to stymie progress in both. Rather than repeat the failures of the climate negotiations, plastics negotiators should seek to create a “plastics club” for ambitious action. 

A new investigation exposes the toxic supply chain fueling global plastic production, shedding new light on the critical players driving the plastics and climate crises. The findings were used to build the Fracked Plastics Map, an interactive tool that traces the connections between more than 25 major consumer brands and petrochemicals sourced from fracking.