End plastic waste and/or production - an international agreement?

 Excerpts from article about the UN Environmental Program (also mentioned in blog post HERE Nov. 19 :

An international agreement to end/reduce plastic waste is being developed now.

“The urgency of addressing plastic pollution cannot be overstated,” said Gustavo Adolfo Meza-Cuadra Velasquez, chair of the negotiating committee, at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi. “To bring a difference at the scale required, we must work collectively.”

The power dynamics and positions of different delegations became clear in the first two rounds of talks in Paris and Punta del Este, Uruguay. They echo some of the same positions as in international climate talks, and with good reason — many of the players are the same. Plastic is largely made from crude oil and natural gas, giving oil-producing countries and companies a large stake in any treaty.

Women sort plastics in recycling center in Pakistan, AP Photo/Perviz Mesih

Global negotiators last met in Paris in June and agreed to produce initial treaty text before reconvening in Nairobi. The draft was published in early September. The U.N. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution is charged with developing the first international, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution on land and at sea.

Kenya is a global leader in fighting plastic pollution, and in 2017, the country banned the manufacture, sale and use of single-use plastic bags. In what is one of the strictest bans on the products, lawbreakers face fines and up to four years in jail.

Two years later, Kenya banned single-use plastic like cutlery, straws and PET bottles from parks, forests, beaches and other protected areas. Kenya is also an important player in environmental matters as home to UNEP’s headquarters. The country generates more than 70% of its electricity from renewable sources.

Norway and Rwanda are leading a “high ambition coalition” of governments that want to end plastic pollution by 2040 by cutting production and limiting some chemicals used in making plastics.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is leading a group of countries that have large

"Leaders of the global plastics industry are advocating for a process called chemical or advanced recycling and said they were very disappointed the draft doesn’t have a strong focus on that. They view this as essential to solving the plastic waste crisis."

The gathering in Nairobi is the third in a compressed five-meeting schedule intended to complete negotiations by the end of next year.

The negotiations, which have attracted more than 2,000 participants, [ended] Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023."

SOURCE: AP News

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