{"id":282107,"date":"2024-12-09T12:00:22","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=282107"},"modified":"2024-12-08T06:50:22","modified_gmt":"2024-12-08T06:50:22","slug":"over-100-countries-want-an-ambitious-plastics-treaty-as-oil-producing-nations-are-getting-in-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2024\/12\/over-100-countries-want-an-ambitious-plastics-treaty-as-oil-producing-nations-are-getting-in-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Over 100 Countries Want an Ambitious Plastics Treaty as Oil-producing Nations Are Getting in the Way"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Anthony Wallace \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for Saudi and Russia we would have reached an agreement here.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

2 Dec 2024 <\/em>– What was supposed to be the final round of United Nations negotiations for a global plastics treaty ended without an agreement on Sunday, as delegates failed to reconcile opposing views on whether to impose a cap on plastic production.<\/p>\n

Another negotiating session \u2014 dubbed INC-5.2 after this week\u2019s INC-5 \u2014 will be held in 2025, but it\u2019s unclear how countries will make further progress without a change in the treaty\u2019s consensus-based decision-making process. As it stands, any delegation can essentially veto a proposal they don\u2019t like, even if they\u2019re opposed by most of the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for Saudi and Russia we would have reached an agreement here,\u201d one European negotiator told the Financial Times<\/a>. Those two countries, along with other oil producers like Iran and Kuwait, want the plastics treaty to leave production untouched and focus only on downstream measures: boosting the plastics recycling rate, for example, and cleaning up existing plastic pollution.<\/p>\n

Kuwait\u2019s delegation said on Sunday<\/a> that \u201cwe are not here to end plastic itself \u2026 but plastic pollution.\u201d That\u2019s the position the plastic industry is taking, as well: Chris Jahn, council secretary for a petrochemical industry consortium called the International Council of Chemical Associations, said it\u2019s \u201ccrucial\u201d for the treaty to focus on plastic pollution alone. \u201cWith 2.7 billion people globally lacking access to waste collection systems, solutions must prioritize addressing this gap,\u201d he said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dozens of countries \u2014\u00a0supported by scientists and environmental groups \u2014\u00a0say that approach is futile while the plastics industry plans to dramatically increase plastic production. \u201cYou can talk about waste management all you want, but this is not the silver bullet,\u201d one of the European Union\u2019s delegates said last week<\/a>. \u201cMopping the floor when the tap is open is useless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christina Dixon, oceans campaign leader for the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency, attended INC-5 and told Grist the conference made it clear that \u201cconsensus isn\u2019t working.\u201d She said countries seem to be recognizing this too, in light of INC-5\u2019s shortcomings and the low probability of finding unanimity on the treaty\u2019s most critical issues.<\/p>\n

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\"Plastic<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
Oil-producing countries and the plastics industry want the treaty to focus on waste management. <\/strong>Martin Bernetti \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/cite><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last week, one French minister accused a coalition of oil-exporting countries of \u201ccontinuing obstruction<\/a>.\u201d Fiji\u2019s negotiator said a \u201cvery minority group\u201d was \u201cblocking the process,\u201d and at a press conference over the weekend told delegations holding back the treaty to \u201cplease get out<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Technically, the treaty could move forward without Saudi Arabia, Russia, and their allies, either continuing under the U.N. framework or \u2014\u00a0a more radical scenario \u2014\u00a0in a new forum led by a breakaway alliance of countries. The latter is unlikely given the time and energy countries have invested in the U.N. system, and because they still value the baseline mandate<\/a> they agreed to two years ago: to \u201cend plastic pollution\u201d by addressing the \u201cfull life cycle of plastics.\u201d But a smaller group of signatories could still make a global impact by using import tariffs and other trade policies to indirectly influence plastic production in non-signatory nations.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more likely that delegations will arrive at INC-5.2 with proposals to change to a voting-based decision-making system. Senegal\u2019s delegate, Cheikh Ndiaye Sylla, said it was a \u201cbig mistake<\/a>\u201d not to do this from the outset. The reason voting wasn\u2019t discussed at INC-5 is because the topic tanked an entire week of negotiations last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe process is broken, hobbling along while production of plastics and their toxic chemicals is escalating,\u201d said Pam Miller, co-chair of the nonprofit International Pollutants Elimination Network, who attended the talks.<\/p>\n

During the closing plenary on Sunday, several delegates alluded to these procedural problems. One of Fiji\u2019s negotiators also lamented access issues<\/a>, including rules that prevented civil society from observing two full days of negotiations during the latter half of INC-5.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this is a member state-driven process, true multilateralism demands balanced, equitable participation to ensure this treaty works for all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Frankie Orona, executive director of the nonprofit Society of Native Nations, which advocates for environmental justice and the preservation of Indigenous cultures, also objected to the draft treaty for insufficiently recognizing the rights of Indigenous peoples. More broadly, he criticized the treaty process for dragging on for two-and-a-half years while the impacts of plastic production and pollution on frontline communities continue. \u201cWe were now having conversations at INC-5 that we should\u2019ve been having at INC-1,\u201d he said. \u201cThousands of people are still going to be impacted \u2026 while [delegates] are sitting here figuring out how we can have a vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"Juan<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
Panama\u2019s delegate, Juan Carlos Monterrey G\u00f3mez, described the treaty as a \u201cfight for survival.\u201d Anthony Wallace \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/cite><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite their frustrations, several delegates said it was useful that the meeting in Busan rallied support around a plastic production cap, along with related proposals to ban certain types of plastic and plastic-related chemicals. Many of their statements were charged with an escalated sense of urgency, including when Panama\u2019s negotiator, Juan Carlos Monterrey G\u00f3mez, described the treaty as a \u201cfight for survival<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlastics, for Panama, are a weapon of mass destruction,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cEvery piece that we allow to be produced without limits is a direct assault on our health, on our nature, and on our children. For those blocking progress, you are allowing this crisis to fester, and it will kill us.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the conference\u2019s closing plenary, nearly 100 countries had signed onto a statement saying they would not accept a treaty unless it included binding global phaseouts for plastic products and so-called \u201cchemicals of concern.\u201d Mexico\u2019s delegate spent two minutes<\/a> reading a list of these signatories. And later, nearly all countries stood<\/a> when Rwanda\u2019s lead negotiator asked them to symbolically show their support<\/a> for \u201cambition<\/a>\u201d in the treaty.<\/p>\n

According to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, a nonprofit reporting service, an EU delegate shared that \u201cwe are not leaving Busan discouraged.\u201d Still, there remains a huge amount of work for INC-5.2,\u00a0to be held at a to-be-determined date and place. Delegates \u2014\u00a0including those from the oil-producing states \u2014 have agreed to base their discussions on a new draft paper<\/a> prepared by the chair of INC-5, Luis Vayas Valdivieso.<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Joseph Winters<\/a> is a s<\/span>taff writer. <\/span> <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original – grist.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 Dec 2024 – \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for Saudi and Russia we would have reached an agreement here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":282109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[1354,519,401,391,1119,894],"class_list":["post-282107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","tag-earth","tag-ecology","tag-environment","tag-nature","tag-plastic-pollution","tag-pollution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282107"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":282111,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282107\/revisions\/282111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}