Countries negotiating a global treaty to curb plastic pollution have failed to reach an agreement after a week of talks in Busan, South Korea.
The session failed to resolve deep divisions between “high-ambition” countries seeking to limit plastic production, and those wanting to focus on waste. With time running out early Monday morning, negotiators agreed to resume the talks next year.
The SMC asked experts to comment.
Professor Sally Gaw, School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of Canterbury, comments:
“Plastics and microplastics are of increasing environmental, human health and public concern due to their pervasiveness and the growing body of evidence of harm from the plastics and the chemicals that they contain.
“The failure to reach a binding international treaty on plastic pollution is a lost opportunity and will have far reaching consequences for ecosystem and human health. A sticking point was that not all countries agreed on a cap on production of new plastics. It will simply not be possible to reduce the global impacts of plastics solely through better management and recycling of waste plastics. Plastics have significant impacts on pollution including greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetime from extraction of raw materials through the manufacturing process, their use and ultimately their disposal.”
Conflicts of interest: None declared
Professor Trisia Farrelly, Senior Research Scientist, Cawthron Institute, & Coordinator of the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, comments:
“Despite a large number of member states pushing for ambitious targets, we couldn’t reach an agreement by three o’clock this morning.
“New Zealand was part of two groups of member states calling for ambitious targets at the negotiations. Mexico led a coalition of 95 countries calling for plastic production reduction, which is a hugely ambitious piece of the puzzle that is desperately needed for an effective treaty. Rwanda read a statement on behalf of 85 countries calling for a really ambitious treaty, which received a standing ovation.
“Now that we’re seeing a majority of countries calling for high ambition and plastic production reduction, there’s hope that we’ll maintain that momentum at the next session.
“However, I do see it as a failure that member states were unable to negotiate a treaty this week. I see it as a failure of procedure. Observers, including independent scientists, were excluded from crucial informal meetings where most of the work took place this week. Many member states wanted to hear the voices of experts as well as communities with lived experience on the frontline of the plastics crisis.
“Sometimes having people who are not negotiating speak can cause delays. However, at crucial moments when the science is called into question, you need to have trusted, independent experts put the facts straight, and there were no opportunities for us to do that.”
Conflict of interest statement: “I’m the Co-ordinator of the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, a body of independent experts who have been working on the Treaty Negotiations since the first negotiating session in Uruguay. Our role is to support member states by providing sound evidence based science.”