Final round of global plastics agreement ends without agreement
The fifth round of negotiations on the UN Plastics Convention (INC-5) in Busan, Korea, ended yesterday without a result after years of preparations. The negotiators from the 170 participating countries had planned to sign a legally binding treaty by the end of the year that would massively stem the flood of plastic by 2040 and severely restrict the production of new plastic. However, the positions of the countries were so far apart that no agreement was possible. A further round of negotiations is now required.
Key facts about plastic pollution
- More than 400 million tons are produced worldwide every year.
- However, only ten percent of global plastic waste is recycled.
- 20 percent, on the other hand, ends up in questionable landfills, unfiltered in the environment or illegally incinerated.
- And more and more plastic waste is drifting in rivers towards the oceans.
- There are around 180 million tons of plastic waste in all of the world's oceans.
- Around 11 million tons are added every year.
"We need to put an end to today's uncontrolled growth and throwaway mentality. Even if recycling increases, as long as the treaty does not set a target to reduce plastic production, it will still not be possible to collect and recycle more than a small fraction of end-of-life products"
Michael Norton, Director of the EASAC Environmental Program
Negotiations to continue
The goal of reaching an internationally valid agreement by 2025 to reduce global plastic production and ban certain plastic products and chemicals has failed due to opposition from oil-producing countries and the petrochemical industry. "We need to build on the progress we have made," said Luis Vayas Valdivieso, head of negotiations, in Busan, South Korea, on Sunday. "There is general agreement to continue the current meeting at a later date in order to conclude our negotiations." According to Vadivieso, it was "encouraging" that parts of the text had been agreed. "But we must also recognize that some critical points are still preventing us from reaching a comprehensive agreement," Vayas continued.
Start of the (presumably) last round of negotiations on the plastics agreement
At the start of the negotiations in 2022, when the countries first agreed to conclude a treaty to end plastic pollution, Inger Andersen, head of the UN Environment Program, said: "It is an insurance policy for this and future generations so that they can live with plastic and not perish from it." All in all, the agreement has been almost ten years in the making.
Fourth round of the plastics agreement without significant results
Coalition of over 100 countries in favor of production limits
One of the central, as yet unresolved issues is a possible cap on plastic production, as demanded by a coalition of over 100 like-minded countries - including the European Union, Mexico, Panama, Rwanda and, most recently, the USA. Oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia, as well as China and India, on the other hand, had vehemently opposed production limits - and instead called for the agreement to focus on efficient waste management.
"The cost of waste management and the social, environmental and health costs amount to billions, if not trillions of dollars - many times the actual cost of production"
The Norwegian chemist Lars Walløe, EASAC
Greenpeace welcomes the fact that Austria and the EU remain committed to a strong conclusion to the negotiations. A strong agreement must start at the source and reduce plastic production. Greenpeace is calling for a 75 percent reduction in global plastic production by 2040.
Marc Dengler, plastics expert at Greenpeace in Austria, commented in a press release: "Over a hundred countries, including Austria and the EU, have shown a clear stance in Korea against the attempts by oil and gas producing countries to disrupt the negotiations and continue to call for a strong plastics agreement. We welcome the fact that the negotiations are continuing instead of agreeing on a weak deal under time pressure. An effective plastics agreement must set out a binding path to significantly reduce plastic production worldwide. Ambitious countries must set a good example: In Austria, the next federal government must ban avoidable single-use plastic and significantly increase reusable quotas."
Poorer countries bear up to ten times higher costs
Poorer countries in particular are paying the "true price" for the effects of the global plastic crisis - this is the conclusion of a study published last year by the consulting firm Dalberg on behalf of the environmental organization WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature). According to the study, the entire plastic value chain - from the extraction of raw materials to the production, use, disposal and pollution caused by plastic waste - is characterized by structural imbalances that fuel the global social imbalance.
"Low- and middle-income countries bear up to ten times the cost of the global plastic crisis than rich industrialized nations, even though they consume almost three times less plastic per capita. We urgently need a strong, international agreement to correct this imbalance and stop the flood of plastic," explained WWF expert Axel Hein in this regard.
Deadly sea of plastic
Because the collection of plastic waste is particularly poor in poorer countries, discarded plastic ends up in rivers and ultimately in the oceans - and ultimately in our food chain. It is now estimated that around 180 million tons of plastic are floating in the world's oceans - with fatal consequences: "Pieces of plastic in the stomach, deadly snares around the neck or chemical plasticizers in the blood - the effects of plastic waste on marine animals vary. There is still far too little research into how microplastic pollution affects humans via the food chain," warns Hein. According to estimates, up to 90 percent of all seabirds and 52 percent of all sea turtles already ingest plastic. Pollution hits coral reefs and mangrove forests, which are among the world's most important marine ecosystems, particularly hard.
