“Just wait till next year!” goes the slogan often attributed to disappointed sports fans. Those same words could equally apply to proponents of an internationally binding U.N. agreement to phase out plastic pollution; they’ll now need to wait at least till next year to try and achieve that goal. The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution this month failed to meet its self-imposed deadline to approve final plastics treaty language by the end of 2024. Instead, at its fifth major session, known as INC-5, conducted Nov. 25 to Dec. 1 in Busan, South Korea, the parties remained deadlocked. In the end, with the summit running into overtime, the great divide couldn’t be crossed. Oil- and plastics-producing nations (including Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Iran and India), refused to compromise on their demands for a voluntary accord only covering plastic reuse and recycling. The majority of nations — more than 100 in total — held out for a binding treaty mandating reductions in plastic production and restricting use of certain toxic chemicals. The Busan meeting was the fifth major international negotiation session in a fast-tracked process that began in 2022 to address the global plastics pollution crisis. More than 3,300 participants attended the INC-5 summit, including delegates from more than 170 nations and 440 observers. Environmentalists and delegates from the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution representing 68 nations (counting the European Union as one) headed home disappointed but hopeful for progress, and maybe a treaty breakthrough, in 2025. The United…This article was originally published on Mongabay
Início » Deadlocked plastic treaty talks will lead to renewed negotiations in 2025