Geneva, Switzerland: As delegates gather in Geneva for what was supposed to be the last round of talks, hopes for a global convention that would be legally binding and stop plastic waste are waning. The sixth round of talks, which have been going on for a while, is running against a lot of pushback from important people who want a less ambitious, voluntary agreement.
The main point of the disagreement is whether the pact should limit the amount of new, or “virgin,” plastic that can be made from fossil fuels. The European Union and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), which are both very sensitive to plastic trash, are calling for curbs on production. They say that an agreement that only focuses on waste management won’t work unless the root of the problem is dealt with first.
But it seems that oil-producing countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as the U.S. delegation led by President Donald Trump, are against these ideas. A source who knows about the talks told Reuters that the U.S. wants to limit the treaty’s scope to “downstream” issues including how to get rid of garbage, recycle things, and design products. This stance fits with the Trump administration’s larger goal of loosening environmental rules.
Because of these different opinions, the last few rounds of negotiations have come to a standstill. Some oil states are even challenging the scientific consensus on the health concerns of plastics, which a senior attorney from the Center for International Environmental Law called “revisionism.”
If nothing is done, the amount of plastic made is expected to triple by 2060. The stakes are very high. Dr. Melanie Bergmann from the Alfred Wegener Institute said that plastics have thousands of compounds in them, and a quarter of those chemicals are known to be bad for human health.
As the discussions get underway, some people are worried that the presence of a lot of petrochemical lobbyists could result in a “watered-down” compromise that doesn’t really fix the problem of plastic pollution. Some delegates are thinking about a vote or a breakaway agreement among more ambitious countries as a last resort. However, Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, called for a real deal that everyone agrees on to make sure that everyone is committed.