What do countries and companies want in global plastic treaty talks?
- April 23, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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What do countries and companies want in global plastic treaty talks?
Subject: Environment
Sec: Int Conventions
Context:
- Global leaders will gather in Canada’s capital this week to discuss progress in drafting a first-ever global treaty to rein in soaring plastic pollution by the end of the year.
More on news:
- The hoped-for treaty, due to be agreed at the end of this year, could be the most significant deal relating to climate-warming emissions and environmental protection since the 2015 Paris Agreement, which got 195 parties to agree to keep global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5C.
What is the Global Plastic treaty?
- In March 2022, the UN Environmental Assembly convened in Nairobi, Kenya, to debate the global plastic crisis.
- In a historic move, 175 nations voted to adopt a global treaty for plastic pollution—agreeing on an accelerated timeline so that the treaty could be implemented as soon as 2025.
Why are we having plastic treaty talks?
- At the U.N. Environmental Assembly in 2022, the world’s nations agreed to develop a legally binding agreement by the end of 2024 to address the world’s plastic pollution crisis.
- The treaty is meant to address plastics through their entire lifecycle – from when they are produced, to how they are used and then disposed of.
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM WITH PLASTICS?
- While plastic waste has become a global menace polluting landscapes and waterways, producing plastics involves releasing greenhouse gas emissions.
- The plastic industry now accounts for 5% of global carbon emissions, which could grow to 20% by 2050 if current trends continue.
- Plastic production is on track to triple by 2060 – unless the treaty sets production limits, as some have proposed. Most virgin plastic is derived from petroleum.
What do countries want in the treaty?
- Many plastic and petrochemical-producing countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran and China – known collectively as the group of Like-Minded Countries – have opposed mentioning production limits.
- They blocked other countries from formally working on proposed treaty language calling for production caps, chemical disclosures or reduction schedules after last year’s Nairobi session.
- The 60-nation “High-Ambition Coalition”, which includes EU countries, island nations and Japan, wants to end plastic pollution by 2040.
- This coalition has called for common, legally binding provisions to restrain and reduce the production and consumption of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels.
- They also are proposing measures such as phasing out “problematic” single-use plastics and banning certain chemical additives that could carry health risks.
What does the petrochemical industry want?
- The trade group Global Partners for Plastics Circularity represents major petrochemical producers including members of the American Chemistry Council and Plastics Europe.
- The group argues that production caps would lead to higher prices for consumers, and that the treaty should address plastics only after they are made.
- These companies want to focus on encouraging the reuse or recycling of plastics, including deploying technology that can turn plastic into fuel.
What do corporate brands want?
- More than 200 consumer-facing companies including Unilever, PepsiCo and Walmart have joined the so-called Business Coalition for a Plastics Treaty.
- Like the petrochemical industry, these companies that rely on plastic packaging for their products have been a major presence in the plastics negotiations.
- They support a treaty that includes production caps, use restrictions and phase-outs, reuse policies, product design requirements, extended producer responsibility, and waste management.