Battle traces drawn in talks on new plastics treaty

As official talks on establishing a United Nations treaty on plastic air pollution started in Uruguay this week, battle traces have began to type.

Main oil and gasoline producers just like the USA and Saudi Arabia, together with most of Asia, need the proposed treaty to be “bottom-up” just like the Paris Settlement on local weather change. This implies nations could make their very own plans and set their very own targets.

A “high ambition coalition” overlaying roughly 1 / 4 of UN member states together with a number of European nations is asking for a top-down treaty that binds all to sure measures. This might embrace bans on sure sorts of plastics.

Nations are cut up on whether or not to emphasize recycling and waste administration or whether or not to scale back the manufacturing of plastic. A key tactical debate issues how a lot voting energy the EU ought to get.

Neil Tangri, from the World Alliance for Incinerator Alternate options, stated: “The US is calling for a treaty with no binding obligations and no requirements to achieve its goal, such as bans on toxic polymers or a reduction in overall production. Every country just does what it wants to. I think that’s a terrible idea.”

He added: “It’s not going to get us where we need to go. It’s not going to restrain plastic production. It’s not going to get the toxics out of plastic. It’s not going to arrange a just transition for workers especially waste pickers. It’s going to be a lot of fancy words with no substance.”

Massive Oil’s plan B

In addition to polluting land and sea, plastics are answerable for an estimated 3% of world greenhouse gasoline emissions by way of their lifecycle. They’re comprised of oil and gasoline, probably providing a lifeline to the sector as local weather motion cuts demand for hydrocarbons as a gas supply.

However consciousness of plastic air pollution is rising and in March, governments agreed to barter a legally binding UN treaty on the difficulty. They intention to land a deal by 2024 and, in Uruguay this week, held their first official committee assembly on the scope of the talks and the principles of process.

Cop27: Late-night fossil gas combat leaves bitter aftertaste

In the beginning of the week, Saudi Arabia launched an impassioned defence of plastic within the plenary corridor in Punta del Este. Its negotiator stated: “We cannot deny the importance of plastics for humanity. Plastics have contributed to development and global commercial and economic prosperity, promoting the achievement of the [sustainable development goals].”

He added: “Plastic products are part of every part of our lives. They are present in manufacturing as well as renewable energy and food security. Plastics also play an important role in socioeconomic development in several countries and therefore the instrument must ensure that no-one is left behind by focusing on the priorities of developing countries”.

Bahrain’s negotiator stated “plastics play an important role in our society” and are vital for “sustainable development” whereas the Asia-Pacific group argued “our task is ending plastic pollution, not necessarily plastics themselves”.

The excessive ambition coalition, which counts the EU, Australia, Canada, small islands and a handful of African and Latin American states amongst its members, argued for an settlement which covers the entire lifecycle of plastics. That features their manufacturing.

Antigua and Barbuda’s negotiator Asha Challenger, talking on behalf of small islands, stated that outdated fashions of worldwide settlement are “not up to the task”.

EU mandate

In UN local weather talks, the EU negotiates as a bloc on behalf of its 27 member states. Underneath the principles of process drafted by the UN Surroundings Programme (Unep), they’d do the identical within the plastics treaty talks.

Whereas UN local weather talks work on consensus, which means any nation can block an settlement, Unep proposed a voting system, below which numbers matter.

At a preliminary assembly in Dakar, Senegal, in June, the EU’s mandate to vote on behalf of all its members was questioned. In a single various proposal, every member state would want to have a consultant within the room for his or her vote to depend.

On Friday in Punta del Esta, that query had not been settled. Within the absence of an agreed voting process, choices require consensus, which campaigners warned might result in weaker outcomes.

On the Cop27 local weather talks final month, a name by greater than 80 nations to section out fossil fuels was not put to open debate as a result of a handful of oil and gasoline producers objected. At Cop26 the 12 months earlier than, the US denied creating nations – the overwhelming majority of events – a gentle circulate of revenue to adapt to local weather change impacts.

Carroll Muffett, CEO of the Heart for Worldwide Environmental Legislation, advised Local weather Dwelling: “Thirty years of experience with the [UN climate change talks] demonstrates the critical importance of parties to these negotiations having the ability to vote on complex issues, take a decision and move forward.”