Cheyenne Suarez

Residents try to salvage plastic trash from a polluted river on Raxabago St., in Tondo Manila, which had been the site of a demolished informal settlers community, on June 26, 2019. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

Article (news)

'Moment of truth' for world-first plastic pollution treaty

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/173224650623820190626-tondo-plastic-trash-jc-3523.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Residents try to salvage plastic trash from a polluted river on Raxabago St., in Tondo Manila, which had been the site of a demolished informal settlers community, on June 26, 2019. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Residents try to salvage plastic trash from a polluted river on Raxabago St., in Tondo Manila, which had been the site of a demolished informal settlers community, on June 26, 2019. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File</em></span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>BANGKOK — Plastic pollution litters our seas, our air and even our bodies, but negotiators face an uphill battle next week to agree on the world&#x27;s first treaty aimed at ending the problem.</p><p>Countries will have a week in South Korea&#x27;s Busan from Monday to round off two years of negotiations.</p><p>They remain deeply divided on whether the deal should limit plastic production and certain chemicals, and even if the treaty should be adopted by majority vote or consensus.</p><p>The talks are a &quot;moment of truth&quot;, UN Environment Programme chief Inger Andersen warned this month.</p><p>&quot;Busan can and must mark the end of the negotiations,&quot; she insisted, in a nod to growing speculation that the process could be extended.</p><p>She acknowledged that serious differences remain, urging &quot;more convergence&quot; on the most difficult areas.</p><p>&quot;Everyone wants an end to plastic pollution,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;Now it is up to member states to deliver.&quot;</p><p>There is little dispute about the scale of the problem.</p><p>In 2019, the world produced around 460 million tons of plastic, a figure that has doubled since 2000, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.</p><p>Plastic production is expected to triple by 2060.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/10/31/to-tackle-plastic-scourge-philippines-makes-companies-pay-1252">READ: To tackle plastic scourge, Philippines makes companies pay</a></div><div><strong>Fault-line</strong></div><p>More than 90 percent of plastic is not recycled, with over 20 million tons leaking into the environment, often after just a few minutes of use.</p><p>Microplastics have been found in the deepest parts of the ocean, the world&#x27;s highest mountain peaks and just about every part of the human body.</p><p>Plastic also accounts for around three percent of global emissions, mostly linked to its production from fossil fuels.</p><p>The main fault-line in talks is where to tackle the problem.</p><p>Some countries, including the so-called High Ambition Coalition (HAC) that groups many African, Asian and European nations, want to discuss the entire &quot;lifecycle&quot; of plastics.</p><p>That means limiting production, redesigning products for reuse and recycling, and addressing waste.</p><p>On the other side are countries, largely oil producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia, who want a downstream focus on waste alone.</p><p>The HAC wants binding global targets on reducing production and warned ahead of the Busan talks that &quot;vested interests&quot; should not be allowed to hamper a deal.</p><p>The divisions have stymied four previous rounds of talks, producing an unwieldy document of over 70 pages.</p><p>The diplomat chairing the talks has produced an alternative document intended to synthesise the views of delegations and move negotiations forward.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/2/7/1-in-10-premature-births-linked-to-plastic-chemicals-study-1136">RELATED: One in 10 premature births linked to plastic chemicals — study</a></div><div><strong>&#x27;Expectations are high&#x27;</strong></div><p>It is a more manageable 17 pages, and highlights areas of agreement, including the need to promote reusability.</p><p>However, it leaves the thorniest issues largely unaddressed.</p><p>A European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, warned the document was &quot;not ambitious enough&quot; on a range of subjects.</p><p>The assessment from the Center for International Environmental Law was blunter: &quot;The text would deliver an ineffective and useless treaty and it would fail to adequately address the plastic crisis.&quot;</p><p>Key to any agreement will be the United States and China, neither of which have openly sided with either bloc.</p><p>Earlier this year, Washington raised hopes among environmentalists by signalling support for some limits on production, a position that is reportedly now being rowed back.</p><p>The election of Donald Trump has also raised questions about how ambitious the US delegation will be, and whether negotiators should even bother seeking US support if a treaty is unlikely to be ratified by Washington.</p><p>Some plastic producers are pushing governments to focus on waste management and reusability, warning production caps would cause &quot;unintended consequences&quot;.</p><p>But others back a deal with global standards, including on &quot;sustainable&quot; production levels.</p><p>&quot;Expectations are high ahead of Busan,&quot; said Eirik Lindebjerg, global plastics policy lead at conservation group WWF.</p><p>An &quot;overwhelming majority&quot; of countries already back binding rules across the plastic lifecycle, he told AFP.</p><p>&quot;It is now up to the leaders of those countries to deliver the treaty the world needs and not let a handful of unwilling countries or industry interests stop this.&quot;</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LDAf5flF3ss?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>More than 90 percent of plastic is not recycled, with over 20 million tons leaking into the environment, often after just a few minutes of use.</p>

More than 90 percent of plastic is not recycled, with over 20 million tons leaking into the environment, often after just a few minutes of use.