By AFP - Agence France Presse
The “moment of truth” for the world's first treaty on plastic pollution
Sara Hussein with Isabel Malsang in Paris
Plastic pollution fouls our seas, our air and even our bodies, but negotiators face an uphill battle next week to agree on the world's first treaty to end the problem.
The countries will have a week in Busan, South Korea, starting on Monday, to conclude two years of negotiations.
They remain deeply divided over whether the agreement should limit the production of plastic and certain chemicals, and even whether the treaty should be adopted by majority vote or by consensus.
The negotiations are a “moment of truth”, warned the head of the UN Environment Program, Inger Andersen, this month.
“Busan can and must mark the end of the negotiations,” she insisted, in a nod to growing speculation that the process could be extended.
She acknowledged that there are still serious differences, calling for “more convergence” in the most difficult areas.
“Everyone wants to end plastic pollution,” she said.
“Now it's up to the member states to deliver.”
There is little dispute about the scale of the problem.
In 2019, the world produced around 460 million tons of plastic, a figure that has doubled since 2000, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Plastic production is expected to triple by 2060.
- Fault line -
More than 90% of plastic is not recycled, with more than 20 million tons leaking into the environment, often after just a few minutes of use.
Microplastics have been found in the deepest parts of the ocean, on the peaks of the world's highest mountains and in practically every part of the human body.
Plastic is also responsible for around 3% of global emissions, mainly due to its production from fossil fuels.
The main gap in the negotiations is where to solve the problem.
Some countries, including the so-called High Ambition Coalition (HAC), which brings together many African, Asian and European nations, want to discuss the entire “life cycle” of plastics.
This means limiting production, redesigning products for reuse and recycling and dealing with waste.
On the other side are countries, mainly oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia, who want the focus to be solely on waste.
The HAC wants mandatory global targets for reducing production and warned ahead of the Busan talks that “vested interests” should not be allowed to stand in the way of an agreement.
Divisions have prevented four previous rounds of negotiations, producing a cumbersome document of more than 70 pages.
The diplomat chairing the negotiations has drawn up an alternative document with the aim of synthesizing the opinions of the delegations and moving the negotiations forward.
- “Expectations are high.
The document is 17 pages long and highlights areas of agreement, including the need to promote re-use.
However, it leaves the thorniest issues largely unresolved.
A European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, warned that the document “is not ambitious enough” on a number of issues.
The Center for International Environmental Law's assessment was more blunt: “The text would result in an ineffective and useless treaty and would fail to adequately address the plastic crisis.”
The United States and China will be key to any agreement, since neither is openly on the side of either bloc.
Earlier this year, Washington raised hopes among environmentalists by signaling support for some production limits, a position that is now reportedly being rolled back.
The election of Donald Trump has also raised questions about the degree of ambition of the US delegation and whether negotiators should bother seeking US support if a treaty is unlikely to be ratified by Washington.
Some plastic producers are pushing governments to focus on waste management and reuse, warning that production limits would cause “unintended consequences”.
But others support an agreement with global standards, including on “sustainable” production levels.
“Expectations for Busan are high,” said Eirik Lindebjerg, global head of plastics policy at conservation group WWF.
An “overwhelming majority” of countries already support mandatory rules on the entire life cycle of plastic, he told AFP.
“Now it's up to the leaders of those countries to deliver the treaty the world needs and not let a handful of reluctant countries or industry interests stand in the way.”
sah/fg/dhc/sco
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