Negotiators working on a treaty to address the global plastic pollution crisis for a week in South Korea will not reach an agreement and plan to resume talks next year.
They are deadlocked over whether the treaty should reduce the total plastic on Earth and establish global, legally binding controls on toxic chemicals used to make plastics.
The negotiations in Busan, South Korea, were supposed to be the fifth and final round to reach the first legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, including in oceans, by the end of 2024. But with time running out early Monday, negotiators agreed to Talks resume next year. They don’t have firm plans yet.
More than 100 countries want the treaty to limit production and address cleaning and recycling, and many have said this is necessary to address chemicals of concern. But for some plastic, oil and gas producing countries, this is crossing a red line.
For any proposal to be included in the treaty, all countries must agree to it. Some countries have sought to change the process so that decisions can be made by voting if consensus is not reached and the process becomes paralyzed. India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and other countries have opposed changing it, arguing that consensus is vital for a comprehensive and effective treaty.
On Sunday, the last scheduled day of talks, the draft treaty still contained multiple options for several key sections. Some delegates and environmental organizations said the agreement had been watered down too much, including negotiators from Africa who said they would rather leave Busan without a treaty than with a weak one.
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Every year the world produces more than 400 million tons of new plastic. Plastic production could rise by about 70% by 2040 without policy changes.
Sam Addo Kumi, Ghana’s chief negotiator, said local communities, water bodies, drains and farmlands are choking with plastic, and plastic-filled landfills are constantly catching fire.
“We want a treaty that will be able to solve the problem,” he said in an interview. “Otherwise we’ll go without her and come and fight again.”
At a meeting on Sunday night, Luis Villas Valdivieso, the committee’s chairman from Ecuador, said that although they had made progress in Busan, their work was still far from complete and they had to be realistic. He said countries were far apart on proposals on plastics and chemicals of concern, plastics production and funding for the treaty, as well as the principles of the treaty.
Valdivieso said the meeting should be suspended and resumed at a later date. Many countries then considered what they should see in moving the treaty forward.
Juliette Kabera, Rwanda’s chief negotiator, said she spoke on behalf of 85 countries in insisting that the treaty be ambitious throughout, fit for purpose, and not designed to fail, for the benefit of current and future generations. She asked everyone who supported the statement to “defend ambition.” The delegates of the countries and many of the attendees stood and applauded.
The Panama delegation, which led the effort to include plastic production in the treaty, said they would come back stronger, louder and more determined.
The Saudi negotiator said that the production of chemicals and plastics is not within the scope of the treaty. Speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, he said that if the world addressed plastic pollution, there would be no problem with plastic production. The Kuwaiti negotiator echoed this, saying that the goal is to end plastic pollution, not plastic itself, and that extending the mandate beyond its original goal leads to the erosion of trust and goodwill.
In March 2022, 175 countries agreed to establish the first legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, including in oceans, by the end of 2024. The resolution states that countries will develop a legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle For plastic.
This is a very ambitious timeline, said Stuart Harris, spokesman for the International Council of Chemical Societies. He said ICCA hopes that governments can reach an agreement with more time.
Most of the negotiations in Busan took place behind closed doors. Environmental groups, indigenous leaders, communities affected by plastic pollution and scientists who traveled to Busan to help draft the treaty said it should have been transparent and felt silenced.
“This is largely why the negotiation process failed,” said Björn Beller, international coordinator of the International Pollutants Elimination Network. “The city of Busan has demonstrated that the process is broken and is still faltering.”
South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Cho Tae-yeol said that although a treaty was not reached in Busan as many had hoped, their efforts have brought the world closer to a unified solution to end global plastic pollution.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
