By AFP - Agence France Presse
With just two days to go before negotiators reach an agreement on the world's first deal to curb global plastic pollution, a new draft text released on Friday showed that there are still deep differences.
Around 200 countries are meeting in Busan, South Korea, to reach an agreement by Sunday, ending two years of negotiations on a historic deal.
Just 48 hours before the end of the negotiations, a new summary text released by the diplomat chairing the process emerged, full of competing visions and ongoing disagreements.
There are eight possible definitions for plastic alone and five options for the meaning of plastic pollution.
No text has been proposed on “chemicals of concern” that are known or believed to be harmful to human health, and an article on health remains virtually empty, along with an option for it to be eliminated - a request previously made by Saudi Arabia.
The draft also suggests that production remains a major sticking point. Many countries have united around a proposal led by Panama for nations to agree to a reduction target once the treaty is signed.
But the draft includes an option that would exclude the article on supply altogether, a suggestion also made earlier by Saudi Arabia.
The text suggests greater convergence on the thorny issue of finance, with an apparent agreement to link the implementation of the agreement to the resources available to the countries.
However, there is still disagreement over the creation of a separate fund to support developing countries and how money could flow into it.
Diplomats emphasized the positive elements of the text.
“We have to make concessions to reach a consensus,” said Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez of Panama, welcoming the inclusion of language on plastic production proposed by his country.
“Now the battle will be based on defending that article,” he told AFP. “We're not here to negotiate a greenwashing and recycling treaty.”
“It's not perfect, but I think it could be a good basis,” added a European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Environmental groups were more cautious and warned that the text was worrying.
“We are asking countries not to accept the low level of ambition reflected in this draft,” said Eirik Lindebjerg, global head of plastics policy at WWF.
“It does not contain any specific upstream measures, such as global bans on high-risk plastic products and chemicals of concern... without these measures, the treaty will fail,” he said.
Greenpeace warned that any final treaty must include a target to reduce the production of new plastics, calling it a “red line for any country serious about ending plastic pollution.”
“That's the decisive aspect,” said the group's Graham Forbes.
bur-sah/kaf/dhc
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