Collaboration remains essential, or at least that is what the Global Cooperation Barometerprepared by the World Economic Forum this 2026. And despite the fact that political fragmentation is increasing between States, public and private cooperation continues to grow. Donald Trump himself – yes, the one who Withdrew the United States from more than 60 international organizations – excitedly announced the creation of a new multilateral entity in Davos a couple of weeks ago.
Obviously, the purposes and the form are not the same. But yes, it is a confirmation that to face the main challenges of our time, cooperation is not only desirable, it is necessary. And in a global economy where raw materials are extracted in one country, manufactured in another and sold in a third, there is little room for solitary adventures. All it takes is for a border to close, for a climate event to occur, or for a standard to change for a local problem to quickly escalate to a global level.
One of the challenges that requires this collaboration is plastic pollution, where each person, organization and country plays a key role in addressing it. However, collaboration does not happen spontaneously, it takes leaders who have the conviction and patience to articulate it. That is precisely what has driven the Plastics Pact Network of WRAP and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for the past six years, and which last week renewed its commitment with local organizations from more than 13 countries and all continents.
The role that Chile has is not minor. We were the first country in America to have a Plastics Pact through Fundación Chile and the Ministry of the Environment, one of the few where the State actively participates. This has meant the arrival of funds and knowledge that directly benefit our country, allowing support from grassroots recyclers to large companies. The most important thing? It has allowed us to articulate a cooperation ecosystem that few countries have.
Entrepreneurs, technicians, activists, and public servants. Many times the partners and collaborators of the Pact have conflicting interests. Some are competitors, others believe in completely different solutions for the system. It’s normal. And, in one way or another, we have managed to work together for the common good and reach concrete consensus on an issue that, by definition, is complex.
Today, the idea of multilateralism is in question and the possibility of having a global treaty against plastic pollution seems minimal. However, we are in an era where work between countries no longer depends exclusively on the will of the governments in power, but also on technical networks, public-private alliances and agreements built from the bottom up. It may not be the classic multilateralism we knew, but it is real cooperation. And if the evidence shows us anything, it’s that—with all its imperfections—collaboration is still sexy.
date: 2026-02-09 19:10:00
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