AFP, BUSAN, South Korea
Dozens of countries warned yesterday that a handful of nations were obstructing efforts in South Korea to reach an ambitious landmark global treaty to curb plastic pollution.
With hours until negotiations are scheduled to end, delegates say a group of mostly oil-producing “like-minded countries” have refused to compromise on key sticking points.
Those include setting targets for reducing plastic production and phasing out chemicals known or believed to be harmful to human health.
Delegates pose for a group photo at the end of a member state press briefing during the fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution in Busan, South Korea, yesterday.
Photo: AFP
“We also are worried by the continuing obstruction by the so-called like-minded countries,” French Minister Delegate for Energy Olga Givernet said.
Finding an agreement on an ambitious treaty “remains an absolute priority [and] we are planning on pushing it,” she added.
Plastic production is on track to triple by 2060, and more than 90 percent of plastic is not recycled.
However, while everyone negotiating in Busan agrees on the problem, they disagree on the solution.
Countries including Saudi Arabia and Russia insist the deal should focus only on waste, and reject calls for binding global measures.
They have made their position clear in documents submitted in negotiations and during public plenary sessions, although neither delegation responded to repeated requests for comment.
“It is disappointing to see that a small number of members remain unsupportive of the measures necessary to drive real change,” Rwandan Environment Management Authority Director-General Juliet Kabera said.
“We still have a few hours left in these negotiations, there is time to find common ground, but Rwanda cannot accept a toothless treaty,” she added.
The latest draft text for the treaty contains a range of options, reflecting the ongoing divisions. A promised new version has been repeatedly delayed.
The talks are supposed to be the final round of negotiations after two years of discussion.
The venue has only been rented until today, sources said.
Portuguese delegate Maria Joao Teixeira said there were real fears talks could collapse and have to be extended to another round elsewhere.
“We are really trying to not have a weak treaty,” she said.
Environmental groups have pushed ambitious countries to call a vote if progress stalls.
However, observers caution that risks alienating even some countries in favour of a strong treaty.
Another option would be for the diplomat chairing the talks to simply gavel through an agreement over the objections of a handful of holdouts, they said.
That too holds risks, potentially embittering the remaining diplomatic process and jeopardising adoption of a treaty down the road.
German delegate Sebastian Unger said many countries would prefer to avoid a vote.
“If you would leave out many important countries that you want to have on board, then the effects of the treaty (are impacted),” he said.
More than 100 countries now support setting a target for production cuts, and dozens also back phasing out some chemicals and unnecessary plastic products.
However, representatives of China and the US, the world’s two top plastics producers, were absent from the stage at a press conference urging ambition.
“They are still considering and we are hopeful that there will be some interest on their part,” Mexican delegate Camila Zepeda said.
