US and Saudi Arabia try to stymie global plastics deal
By Bianca Hall
A global treaty to cut plastic production and pollution is hanging by a thread, as the United States teams up with “petrostates” including Saudi Arabia and Russia to weaken progress on international regulation.
About 3700 people are taking part in talks in Geneva this week, representing 184 countries and more than 600 organisations, to craft the first global, legally binding treaty on plastics pollution.
This 2008 photo by NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center shows plastics debris in Hanauma Bay, Hawaii. Credit: AP
The Centre for Environmental Law said the treaty discussions had been “overrun” by lobbyists, with at least 234 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists registered to attend.
That represents a record compared with 221 registered to attend during the last session in November, and it means lobbyists outnumber the countries represented.
Australia is one of more than 100 countries to commit to a future global plastics treaty, which aims to reduce pollution during the lengthy life-cycle of plastics products.
The biggest issue is whether the treaty should impose caps on producing new plastic, a goal backed by ambitious countries including Australia, or focus instead on better design, recycling and reuse.
Plastics production is projected to rise to 1200 megatons by 2060.Credit: Nipah Dennis for Bloomberg
Petroleum-producing nations including Saudi Arabia and Russia have argued the regulation of petroleum production is beyond the scope of the treaty.
The US similarly opposes production caps, and on the first day of the negotiations proposed striking out language in the objective of the agreement about addressing the full life-cycle of plastics.
That idea was part of the original mandate for a treaty, and getting rid of it could effectively end any effort to control plastic supply or production.
More than 170 countries agreed to form a treaty on plastics in 2022 and have been negotiating terms since.
Last week, launching the current round of negotiations, United Nations Environment Program executive director Inger Anderson described the scale of the problem as immense.
“Plastic pollution is already in nature, in our oceans and even in our bodies,” she said.
“If we continue as on this trajectory, the whole world will be drowning in plastic pollution – with massive consequences for our planetary, economic and human health.”
An international alliance of zero-waste organisations, GAIA, said the “paralysis of consensus-based decision-making” in Geneva was jeopardising the fate of the treaty.
Salisa Traipipitsiriwat, of Environmental Justice Foundation Thailand, said all countries had failed to call for a vote.
“Consensus is clearly holding us back from reaching agreement, yet still countries did not have the courage to take action,” she said. “Yes, voting is politically sensitive, but we need to put it on the table if we are to secure a strong treaty. It’s now or never.”
A spokesperson for the federal government said Australia remained hopeful of an ambitious deal.
“These are tough negotiations, and there are countries that don’t share the level of ambition that Australia and so many other countries have,” they said.
“We want a meaningful and effective treaty that not only meets Australia’s expectations but delivers for the Pacific, where an outsized impact of plastic pollution is felt.”
With Associated Press