Representatives from 175 countries around the world reached an agreement at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) last week to begin negotiations on a global agreement to tackle the exploding growth of plastic pollution.
Countries will work on a comprehensive, legally binding treaty to improve recycling and clean up global plastic waste, as well as limit plastic production. Measures such as banning single-use plastics may also be on the agenda.
The most important environmental agreement since the Paris Agreement
According to the United Nations Environment Assembly, the global plastics treaty will be the most significant environmental agreement since the 2015 Paris Agreement. Negotiators will participate in the first of several rounds this year to hammer out the details of the treaty, with the goal of completing it by 2024.
Any treaty that imposes restrictions on the production, use or design of plastics would affect oil and chemical companies that produce the raw materials used to make plastics, as well as consumer goods giants that sell thousands of single-use packaging products. It would also affect the economies of major plastic-producing countries, including the United States, China, India, Saudi Arabia and Japan.
The sheer volume of plastic produced worldwide is incalculable. According to one estimate, the total amount of plastic ever produced is greater than the combined weight of all land and marine animals. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that only 9% of this plastic is recycled, with the vast majority designed for single use (the recycling symbol doesn't guarantee effective recycling) ultimately ending up in landfills, the environment, or incinerated.
Scientists say plastic harms the environment throughout its life cycle, releasing toxic gases and planet-warming greenhouse gases during production, landfill, and incineration. A recent study estimated that plastics made from fossil fuels accounted for 4.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2015, more than the combined emissions from all the world's airplanes.
Plastics treaty recognizes importance of waste pickers for the first time
The plastics agreement, held in Nairobi, Kenya, on the 2nd, primarily referenced a joint proposal from Peru and Rwanda, demonstrating that developing countries have been at the forefront of addressing plastic pollution in recent years. Rwanda strictly banned the import, production, use, and sale of plastic bags and packaging over a decade ago.
In much of the world, the task of collecting, sorting, and recycling plastic often falls to informal workers known as waste pickers, who often work amidst incineration and toxic gases for meager wages. One of the key implications of this agreement is that it formally recognizes for the first time the importance of waste pickers in the plastics economy.
“We have to involve waste pickers in this process,” said Silvio Ruiz Grisales, a waste picker from Bogotá, Colombia. Grisales, who started working at the dump at age 12, now heads the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Waste Pickers, an organization that advocates for better pay, working conditions, and recognition for waste pickers.
According to the agreement reached on the 2nd, any global treaty must be legally binding and must address the problems caused by the entire life cycle of plastics, from production to disposal, recycling and reuse. Representatives from various countries said they hope to use the Paris Agreement as a model, under which countries set binding targets but can use a range of different policies to achieve them.
Countries disagree on content of plastics treaty
The treaty must also address packaging design to reduce plastic use, improve recycling, and provide technical and financial assistance to developing countries. It must also address microplastics, which scientists have detected in deep ocean waters, shellfish, drinking water, and even rainwater.
Swiss Environment Ambassador Franz Perrez said that although UN officials unanimously agreed to negotiate a plastics treaty, there were still differences of opinion on what should be included in the final agreement. According to people familiar with the matter, the content of the agreement also encountered opposition from countries such as the United States, Japan and India during the negotiations.
Japan initially proposed a counter-resolution targeting ocean plastics. According to a list of demands privately presented by the Indian delegation, obtained by The New York Times, India threatened to derail the talks on the final day and demanded that any action be "voluntary."
According to a study released this month by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), if the treaty fails to slow plastic pollution, widespread environmental damage will occur in the coming decades, putting some marine species at risk of extinction and destroying sensitive ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangroves.
Source: Environmental Information Center (https://e-info.org.tw/node/233523)
