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WORLD NEWS | Negotiators take first step towards plastic pollution treaty

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Punta del Este (Uruguay), Dec. 3 (AP) More than 2,000 experts concluded a week of plastic pollution talks Friday in one of the largest global gatherings ever to tackle the problem of even plastic pollution. Industry leaders are seeing the problem as a crisis.

It was the first meeting of a UN committee aiming to draft a landmark treaty to end global plastic pollution.

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“The world needs this treaty because we are producing billions of plastics,” Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Plastics Negotiating Committee, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“Billions of tons of plastic are produced every year and there is absolutely no way to ensure that this plastic does not end up in the environment.”

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Entire beaches that were once pristine islands are now filled with rubbish. A random inspection of a handful of sand in many places will reveal plastic debris.

The United Nations Environment Program held the meeting Monday to Friday in Punta del Este, Uruguay, known for its beaches.

Delegates from more than 150 countries, plastics industry representatives, environmentalists, scientists, waste pickers, tribal leaders and others affected by pollution attend in person or virtually. Waste pickers are seeking recognition for their work and a just transition to well-paid, healthy and sustainable work.

Even in the first five-man meeting planned for the next two years, factions are in focus. Some countries require top-down global mandates, some require national solutions, while others require a combination of both. If an agreement is finally adopted, it will be the first legally binding global treaty to fight plastic pollution.

Leading industry opinion is the American Chemistry Council, a trade association for chemical companies. Plastics division vice president Joshua Baca said the company wanted to work with the government on the issue because they, too, were frustrated with the issue. But he said they would not back production curbs as some countries hoped.

“The challenge is very simple. It’s trying to ensure that used plastic never enters the environment,” Baca said. “From a waste management perspective, a top-down approach that limits or bans production does not help address the challenges we face.”

The United States, the largest producer of plastic, agreed to a national plan that would allow the government to prioritize the most significant sources and types of plastic pollution.

Most plastics are made from fossil fuels. Other plastic-producing countries and oil and gas nations have also called for blame to be placed on individual countries. The representative of China stated that it is difficult to effectively control global plastic pollution with one or even several general methods.

Saudi Arabia’s representative also said that each country should determine its own action plan, with no standardization or coordination. Plastics play a vital role in sustainable development, the representative said, so the treaty should recognize the importance of continuing to produce plastic while addressing the root causes of pollution, which he believes is poor waste management.

Some refer to these countries as the “low ambition” group. Andres del Castillo, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, said that while national plans are important, they shouldn’t be the backbone of treaties because that’s the system the world already has — or doesn’t have.

“We see little point in having five meetings with experts from around the world to discuss voluntary action when concrete control measures are needed to reduce and then eliminate plastic pollution in the world,” he said after the race. Join the discussion on Thursday. “It’s a cross-border issue.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres chimed in on Twitter: “Plastic is another form of fossil fuel that poses serious threats to human rights, climate and biodiversity,” it wrote.

The countries, which describe themselves as a “coalition of ambitious nations”, want to use an ambitious and effective international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution by 2040. They are led by Norway and Rwanda.

The representative of Norway at the meeting said that the production and use of plastic must be curbed, and the first task should be to determine which plastic products, polymers and chemical additives will bring the fastest benefits after phase-out.

African countries, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru and others have also called for a global approach, arguing that voluntary and decentralized national plans cannot address the severity of plastic pollution. Small island nations that depend on the oceans for food and livelihoods say they are overwhelmed by the amount of plastic washing up on their shores. Developing countries say they need financial support to fight plastic pollution.

Australia, the UK and Brazil said international obligations should complement national action.

Environmental scientist Tadesse Amera said the treaty should not only address waste, but also the environmental health problems that chemicals in plastics cause when products are used, recycled, discarded or incinerated as waste. Amera is the director of the Ethiopian Pesticide Action Linkages Association and co-chair of the International Contaminant Elimination Network.

“This is not a waste management issue,” he said. “It’s a chemistry problem and a health problem, human health and biodiversity.”

People from communities affected by the industry attended to ensure their voices were heard throughout the treaty negotiations. Among them was Frankie Orona, executive director of the Native Texas Association.

“There is a lack of inclusion for those who are directly negatively affected by the industry. They need to be at the table,” he said. “A lot of times they have a solution.”

So far, the talks appear to be focused on reducing plastic, while the government should set higher targets, Olona said.

“We need to get rid of plastic completely,” he said.

At the next meeting, Mathur-Filipp said, she will draw up a draft of a legally binding agreement. Organizers don’t want it to take a decade, she said. The next meeting is planned for spring in France. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)



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