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Negotiators working on a treaty to tackle the global plastic pollution crisis for a week in South Korea will fail to reach an agreement and plan to resume talks next year.
They are at an impasse over whether the treaty should reduce total plastic on Earth and establish legally binding global controls on the toxic chemicals used to make plastics.
The meeting of the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in Busan, South Korea, was supposed to be the fifth and final round of negotiations, to produce the first legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, including in the oceans, by the end of 2024 .But over time. early Monday, negotiators plan to resume talks next year.
More than 100 countries want the treaty to limit production and address cleanup and recycling, and many have said it is essential to addressing chemicals of concern. But for some plastic and oil and gas producing countries, this crosses a red line.
For any proposal to be incorporated into the treaty, all nations must agree to it. Some countries tried to change the process so that decisions could be made by voting if consensus could not be reached and the process stalled. India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and others opposed changing it, arguing that consensus is vital to an inclusive and effective treaty.
On Sunday, the last scheduled day of talks, the draft treaty still had multiple options for several key sections. Some delegates and environmental organizations said it had become too soft, including African negotiators who said they would rather leave Busan without a treaty than a weak one.
Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says he’s disappointed no deal was reached Sunday, but added he remains hopeful a deal can be reached as negotiators plan to meet again next year
Guilbeault says he plans to use next year’s G7 summit in Alberta as a platform to advance the issue.
Production is expected to rise sharply
Every year, the world produces more than 360 million tons of new plastic. Plastic production could increase by around 70% by 2040 without policy changes.
Plastic production is on track to triple by 2050 and microplastics have been found in the air, fresh produce and even in human breast milk.
In animals like fish, these broken pieces of larger plastics have been linked to lower levels of growth and reproduction, among a host of other problems. Researchers are still trying to determine more conclusively whether and at what level microplastics pose a direct risk to human health.
In Ghana, communities, water bodies, drains and farmland are choking with plastics, and landfills full of plastics are always on fire, said Sam Adu-Kumi, the country’s chief negotiator.
“We want a treaty that can solve it,” he said in an interview. “Otherwise, we’ll go without and come and fight again.”
At Sunday night’s meeting, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, Ecuador’s committee president, said that while they made progress in Busan, their work is far from over and they must be pragmatic. He said the countries were furthest apart on proposals on problematic plastics and chemicals, plastics production and treaty financing, as well as the treaty’s principles.
Valdivieso said the meeting should be suspended and resumed at a later date. Many countries then reflected on what they should see in the treaty moving forward.
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Rwanda’s chief negotiator, Juliet Kabera, said she spoke on behalf of 85 countries to insist that the treaty be ambitious across the board, fit for purpose and not built to fail, for the benefit of current and future generations. He called on all those who supported the declaration to “stand up for ambition”. The country delegates and many in the audience stood up, applauding.
Panama’s delegation, which led an effort to include plastic production in the treaty, said it would come back stronger, stronger and more determined.
Saudi Arabia’s negotiator said chemicals and plastic production are not within the scope of the treaty. Speaking on behalf of the Arab group, he said that if the world tackles plastic pollution, there should be no problem producing plastic. Kuwait’s negotiator has echoed that, saying the goal is to end plastic pollution, not the plastic itself, and stretching the mandate beyond its original intent erodes trust and goodwill.
In March 2022, 175 nations agreed to make the first legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, including oceans, by the end of 2024. The resolution states that nations will develop a legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the complete life cycle of plastic.
Stewart Harris, a spokesman for the International Council of Chemical Associations, said it was an incredibly ambitious timeline. He said the ICC hopes the governments can reach an agreement with a little more time.
Most of the negotiations in Busan took place behind closed doors. Environmental groups, indigenous leaders and others who traveled to Busan to help shape the treaty said it should have been transparent and felt silenced.
“The voices of affected communities, scientific and health leaders are being silenced in the process and, to a large extent, this is why the negotiation process is failing,” said Bjorn Beeler, international coordinator of the International Network of Elimination of Pollutants. “Busan showed that the process is broken and only moving forward.”
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said that while they did not get a treaty in Busan as many had hoped, their efforts brought the world closer to a unified solution to end pollution worldwide for plastic.
