Talks on a global plastic treaty begin in Canada

Activists stage a die-in at the start of the fourth session of the UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution in Ottawa, Canada, on April 23, 2024 – Copyright AFP Dave Chan

Marion THIBAUT

Negotiators from 175 countries began talks Tuesday to agree on a global treaty to reduce plastic pollution, which is found everywhere from mountaintops to the depths of the ocean, and in human blood and breast milk.

“The world is counting on us to deliver a new treaty that will catalyze and guide the actions and international cooperation needed to achieve a future without plastic pollution,” said Luis Valdivieso, chairman of the negotiations at the the UN-led talks in Ottawa. Canada.

“Let us not fail,” Valdivieso added as he opened the session that will last until April 29.

Nations agreed in 2022 to a world-first agreement by the end of 2024, with concrete measures to combat plastic pollution around the world.

The meeting in Ottawa is considered crucial because it is the penultimate session before a final round of negotiations in South Korea later this year.

Plastics have created a dependency on the “throwaway consumer culture,” said Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, adding: “We are here today because we recognize that we must throw away this throwaway generation.”

In an interview with AFP ahead of the talks, Guilbeault said the goal was to reach “60 to 70 percent of the elements endorsed by the delegates.”

– ‘Time is against us’ –

While there is broad consensus on the need for a treaty, environmentalists calling for a 75 percent reduction in plastic production by 2040 are at odds with oil-producing countries and the plastics industry.

The stakes are high, as widespread plastic pollution has potentially serious consequences for the oceans and the climate.

Annual plastic production has more than doubled in twenty years to 460 million tons, and is on track to triple within four decades.

Only nine percent is recycled, and according to the OECD, its contribution to global warming could more than double by 2060 – after accounting for 3.4 percent of global emissions in 2019.

“Time is against us both when it comes to finalizing the instrument, but also when it comes to how much more the planet can take if we think about it,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme.

During talks in Kenya in November, a draft agreement jumped from 30 to 70 pages, with oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia recording their objections to limiting plastic production and instead emphasizing recycling.

For the plastics and chemical industries, recycling is the “most effective way” to end plastic pollution with the “lowest environmental and economic costs,” says Chris Jahn of the International Council of Chemical Associations, a global trade organization .

Meanwhile, 65 members of the so-called ‘high ambition’ coalition, chaired by Rwanda and Norway, which also includes the majority of European Union countries, are calling for more ambitious measures.

“We are at a crossroads,” said Eirik Lindebjerg of the World Wildlife Fund International before negotiations began.

He noted that “an overwhelming majority of countries have already called for the adoption of the necessary binding global rules – our leaders must now translate these calls into action.”