Indigenous actors in international negotiations: the case of the ICC in the global plastics treaty

This article examines the conditions shaping the influence of Indigenous representation in international environmental negotiations, using the engagement of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) in the negotiations for a global plastics treaty as an illustrative case study. It investigates the explanatory factors that both constrain and enable the ICC’s influence within these negotiations. Combining insights from political science and legal-anthropological literature, it develops a comprehensive analytical framework to assess Indigenous political participation and applies it to this empirical case. Applying this framework to the case illustrates how the interaction of different explanatory factors, most prominently formal and informal institutional conditions, can constrain Indigenous influence, as seen in the comparatively limited influence achieved by the ICC and other non-state actors advocating for an ambitious global plastic treaty. While some of the informal and formal institutional barriers have been offset due to the ICC’s high internal organisational capacity, this has not been a sufficient factor for successfully establishing a more substantial influence aggregation.