Plastic pact floats on, raising fears for some
As global negotiations to reduce production move forward, critics say goals might be unattainable
Canada can lay claim to significant progress made during the fourth round of global treaty negotiations to reduce plastic production and waste held in Ottawa this week.
For the first time, the 175 member countries taking part agreed to allow negotiations to continue outside of formal talks, which some countries had refused to do before now.
That means working groups can continue bargaining towards one of the treaty’s goals — reducing harmful chemicals in plastic — leading up to the final round of formal treaty negotiations in Busan, South Korea, in seven months, negotiations which so far have moved at a glacial pace.
But the move also signifies that one of the treaty’s major goals might be unattainable.
There was no agreement among countries to continue informal negotiations on plastic production, which some critics said is necessary in order to get any kind of consensus on production limits leading up to final negotiations in Busan.
“This compromise diminishes the ambition of this process as it ignores the central role of plastics production in fuelling the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises,” said Brett Nadrich, the communication officer for #BreakFreeFromPlastics U.S. & Canada, in an email.
“This is not only an utter disappointment, but also a missed opportunity to tackle the root causes comprehensively.”
Plastic pollution is a global problem and one that is only expected to get worse with estimates that plastic production will double in 20 years.
Microplastics have been found in the atmosphere and in the ocean, where scientists say it is contributing to a warming climate. Microplastics have also been found in animal and human tissue.
Negotiations for a plastic treaty began in late 2022 after 175 countries adopted a UN Environment Assembly resolution to develop an international legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution that would tackle the entire life cycle of plastics, including production, design and disposal.
A draft treaty, referred to as the “zero draft,” was created by the UN and released in September 2023. Critics say the document has ballooned to 75 pages and includes numerous options from countries on how plastics should be handled — options that critics say have weakened the original document.
Many environmentalists blame the oil and gas industry, of which plastic is cheap by-product, of lobbying countries to ensure that plastic waste is managed downstream, by recycling, instead of limiting production.
But there was still a lot of optimism after the third round of negotiations ended in Nairobi in November of 2023, said Karen Wirsig, a senior program manager with the Canadian non-profit Environmental Defence.
More than 60 countries, including Canada, had joined a so-called “high ambition” coalition committed to not only eliminating plastic waste, but reducing plastic production.
But she said that ambition died in Ottawa this week.
“I think we lost that this week,” said Wirsig, who was an observer at the negotiations. Countries decided to “compromise on all this stuff because ultimately what they want is some kind of agreement coming out of this.”
On Sunday night, representatives from Rwanda and Peru put forward a proposal to continue talks after Ottawa on limiting plastic production, which has always been one of the goals of the so-called International Negotiating Committee, or INC, which was struck by the UN to broker a treaty.
More than 50 countries said they were in favour of the proposal, but Canada was not one of them, said Wirsig.
Environment Minister Steven Gilbeault had signalled earlier in the week that production limits on plastic might be off the table, sounding doubtful about how a production cap could be enforced globally.
But Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, the executive secretary of the INC, said in an interview with the Star that she still believes the member states could reach an agreement at the final round of negotiations.
“I believe that member states will reach an agreement in Busan on the life cycle of plastics, which is what was requested of them,” said Mathur-Filipp.
“They made the resolution themselves at UNEA,” she said, referring to the adoption of the resolution at the United Nations Environment Assembly. “So I believe that they will come to an agreement on the life cycle of plastics,” that won’t be the status quo, she said.
Jyoti said the intercessional work would be conducted through webinars and one in-person meeting.
The fifth and final round of negotiations on the plastic treaty will run from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1.
I believe that they will come to an agreement on the life cycle of plastics.
JYOTI MATHUR-FILIPP INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE