Negotiations on a global plastics treaty resume in Canada

OTTAWA – Negotiators from 175 countries will meet in Canada from Tuesday to establish a binding global treaty to end plastic pollution, with many sticking points to be resolved five months after the latest round of talks in Kenya.

Nations agreed in 2022 to finalize a world-first UN treaty by the end of this year to tackle the scourge of plastic found everywhere from mountaintops to the depths of the ocean, and in human blood and breast milk.

Negotiators have already met three times and are expected to hold a final round of negotiations in South Korea after the Ottawa talks.

The previous meeting in Nairobi last November was the first opportunity to debate a draft treaty that set out ways to tackle the problem. It ended with disagreements over its scope and environmental non-governmental organizations denouncing a lack of robust progress.

“We have a text, it is a basis, even if a lot of work still needs to be done,” Steven Guilbeault, Canadian Environment Minister and host of the Ottawa talks, told AFP.

According to him, the aim of this round is to “achieve a text in which 60 to 70 percent of the elements are endorsed” by the delegates meeting until April 29.’

The stakes are high, as widespread plastic pollution has potentially serious consequences for the oceans and the climate.

While there is broad consensus on the need for a treaty, environmentalists calling for a 75 percent reduction in plastic production by 2040 are at odds with oil-producing countries and the plastics industry itself, which favor recycling.