Plastic Treaty negotiations enter final stretch as deadline approaches. Image: France 24
(The Post News)- On Friday, diplomats warned of a looming showdown in negotiations to reach the world’s first deal to curb plastic pollution. This comes ahead of a new draft text that emerged, filled with competing visions and ongoing disagreements.
With only two days remaining in the talks, countries seeking an ambitious treaty have urged delegations that “have not moved a centimeter” to either make a compromise or “get out of the way.” Panama’s delegation head warned that if progress is stalled further, the UN’s usual consensus process could be abandoned for a vote.
Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez said that if there isn’t a full consensus, they can go to voting, with one country, one vote. Roughly 200 countries are in Busan, South Korea, with the goal of sealing a landmark deal by Sunday, which would cap two years of negotiations.
However, the recent draft text reflects a continuous fault line that divides a handful of mostly oil-producing states, who supply the initiators for plastic production, from a coalition of European, African, Latin American, and Asian countries.
Within the text are eight possible definitions for plastic alone, with five options for the meaning of plastic pollution. Saudi Arabia earlier requested that no text be proposed on “chemicals of concern” that are known or believed to be harmful to human health, and an article remains bare, with an option to scrap it altogether.
This includes language proposed by Panama on production, suggesting that countries should agree to a reduction target once the treaty is signed. Although this would leave open the option to delete the article on supply entirely, which was another suggestion made by Saudi Arabia. Frustration continues to grow among some delegations, specifically small island states vulnerable to ocean plastic.
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