Chair of global plastics talks promises agreement next month October 23, 2024

Magda Ehlers by Pexel, photo of various discarded plastic products.

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Chair of global plastics talks promises agreement next month

By Katie Forster

A global treaty to curb plastic pollution will be secured at a summit in South Korea next month, the chairman of the negotiations promised on Wednesday, although he warned that complex disputes remain and that the deadline is a “big challenge.”

Ecuador's Luis Vayas Valdivieso said that time is running out if the nations are to clinch a potentially groundbreaking deal at the final negotiations convened by the UN in South Korea at the end of November, adding that there are still disagreements between the countries.

Vayas Valdivieso said that his mandate is “to achieve an effective treaty, an effective legally binding instrument,” and “we will fulfill that mandate at the end of Busan.”

However, “I am in the hands of the members,” he said at a talk in Japan.

“We still have differences in our negotiations, some complex issues that still need to mature a bit more.”

Negotiators have met several times to discuss an agreement that could include production limits, recycling rules, and bans on certain plastics or chemical components.

In previous negotiations, oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia have opposed limiting plastic production, wanting instead to focus on recycling.

Meanwhile, dozens of countries in a “high ambition” coalition, including most of the European Union, are calling for stricter measures.

Vayas Valdivieso said that with only seven days of negotiations in Busan, time would be a “big challenge.”

But he expressed hope for an agreement “with reliable rules to end plastic pollution.”

“We need to succeed in Busan for the well-being of our planet, for the well-being of human health,” he said.

Plastic production has doubled in 20 years and, at current rates, could triple by 2060, according to the OECD.

However, more than 90% of plastic is not recycled, and much of it is dumped in nature or buried in landfills.

In an attempt to reduce the cumbersome draft document and speed up negotiations in Busan, Vayas Valdivieso has produced so-called “non-papers” based on talks with countries.

The documents have no legal basis as negotiating documents but can serve as a starting point for the final round of talks if the parties agree to accept them.

Vayas Valdivieso said on Wednesday that he hoped to publish a third non-paper in the next few days with “as much text as possible.”

But Busan does not mark the end of efforts to combat plastic pollution, he added, as any treaty must be “a living convention that will become stronger and stronger in the future.”

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