Over 170 countries and observers gathered in Paris last week for a second round of negotiations aimed at proposing a legally binding "Global Plastics Treaty" by 2024 to jointly reduce plastic pollution. The talks concluded on the 2nd, with much of the meeting time tied up in voting procedures, resulting in limited progress. Ultimately, the countries agreed to prepare a preliminary draft before the next round of negotiations to facilitate substantive discussions.
The Global Convention on Plastic Reduction is the most significant environmental agreement since the Paris Agreement. The first round of negotiations will take place at the end of 2022, with the second round taking place in Paris from May 29 to June 2. Five meetings are expected by the end of 2024 to finalize a legally binding convention.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which chaired the meeting, released a blueprint ahead of the negotiations to reduce plastic consumption by 80% by 2040. Reuters reported that the blueprint outlined three key areas of action: reuse, recycling, and shifting plastic packaging to alternative materials. However, environmental groups criticized the blueprint for overemphasizing waste management and insufficient source reduction, calling it a concession to the plastics industry.
According to The Guardian, the world currently produces 430 million metric tons of plastic materials annually, two-thirds of which have a short lifespan and quickly become waste. If this trend continues, plastic production will triple by 2060. According to Politico, the second round of negotiations was largely spent debating voting rules and procedural points, with the main point not getting down to business until the third day. One faction, led by Saudi Arabia, China, Brazil, and India, advocates for a treaty to be decided by consensus, giving each country a veto. The other faction, comprising Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Norway, favors a two-thirds majority vote.
NGOs expressed dissatisfaction with the decision, calling it a deliberate attempt to obstruct the negotiation process. While procedural issues were later compromised, David Azoulay, a senior attorney at the Center for Environmental Law, noted that "core and crucial issues remain unresolved."
The third round of negotiations will be held in Nairobi, Kenya in November this year. Finally, all countries agreed to produce a draft before the negotiations to facilitate substantive discussions.
Graham Forbes, global plastic reduction campaigner at Greenpeace USA, said time is running out, yet oil-producing nations and the fossil fuel industry are working to weaken the treaty and delay negotiations. Greenpeace is demanding an end to plastic pollution from production to disposal, and a just transition away from plastic dependence.
Willemjin Peeters, founder of the Dutch social enterprise Searious Business, praised the meeting's outcomes. She noted that the Business Coalition, which includes over 100 leading companies across the plastics value chain, including plastics processors, plastic packaging manufacturers, consumer brands, retailers, waste management companies, and financial institutions, has pledged its support for the Plastics Pact. This support is encouraging, given the companies' previous anti-regulatory stance.
Source: Environmental Information Center (https://e-info.org.tw/node/236916)
