A final round of talks on a treaty to curb plastic pollution opened yesterday, with deep differences between nations emerging almost immediately.
The meeting opened just hours after a chaotic end to the COP29 climate talks in Baku, which agreed to a boost in climate funding that developing countries slammed as insufficient.
Opening the plastics meeting, the Ecuadoran diplomat chairing the talks warned nations that the conference was about “far more than drafting an international treaty.”
Photo: AFP
“It is about humanity rising to meet an existential challenge,” Luis Vayas Valdivieso, chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee, told an opening plenary in South Korea’s Busan.
Plastic pollution is so ubiquitous that it has been found in clouds, the deepest ocean trenches and even human breastmilk, and while almost everyone agrees it is a problem, there is less consensus on how to solve it.
Among the most contentious issues are whether the treaty should cap plastic production, a possible ban on chemicals feared toxic to human health and how to pay for implementation. The deep differences have dogged four previous rounds of talks over the past two years, resulting in a lengthy and contradictory draft treaty running more than 70 pages.
Photo: AP / Yonhap
Valdivieso has produced an alternative document intended to synthesize the views of delegations and move negotiations forward, but several countries, including Russia and India, immediately objected to it.
“The reality is that many countries do not see themselves represented in this paper,” Saudi Arabian delegation head Eyad Aljubran said on behalf of the Arab group.
In 2019, the world produced about 460 million tonnes of plastic, a figure that has doubled since 2000, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Plastic production is expected to triple by 2060.
More than 90 percent of plastic is not recycled, with more than 20 million tonnes leaking into the environment, often after just a few minutes of use.
Plastic also accounts for about 3 percent of global emissions, mostly linked to its production from fossil fuels.
Some countries, including the so-called High Ambition Coalition (HAC), which groups many African, Asian and European nations, want the treaty to address the entire “lifecycle” of plastics. That means limiting production, redesigning products for reuse and recycling, and addressing waste.
On the other side are countries, largely oil producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia, which want a downstream focus on waste alone.
The HAC wants binding global targets on reducing production and warned ahead of the Busan talks that “vested interests” should not be allowed to hamper a deal.
Some observers said the talks are likely to falter and be extended, but by yesterday afternoon, Valdivieso won agreement for negotiations to begin on the basis of his slimmed-down document.
“I thank you very much for your flexibility,” he told the room.
The short time frame has some environmental groups worried an agreement would be watered down to ensure something is signed.
The key to any accord would be the US and China, neither of which have openly sided with either bloc.
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