Plastics Treaty

World Leaders Fail to Reach Agreement on Global Plastics Treaty

December 3, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Educate! Environment, Plastics, Plastics Treaty, pollution, United Nations

Efforts by nations to come to an agreement on a global plastics treaty failed on Monday. While more than 100 countries sought to put a limit on the world’s plastics production — in addition to tackling recycling and cleanup — oil and gas companies were only prepared to address the problem of plastic waste. The meeting in Busan, South Korea was supposed to be the last, but negotiations will continue into 2025, reported The Associated Press. “It is clear that there is still persisting divergence,” said Inger Andersen, the United Nations Environment Programme’s executive director, as Reuters reported.

Ahead of Plastics Treaty Talks, Millions Demand Production Cuts

November 25, 2024 Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams. Resist! climate crisis, Plastics, Plastics Treaty, South Korea

With the fifth and final round of global plastics treaty negotiations set to begin Monday in Busan, South Korea, an estimated 1,500 people took to the city's streets and nearly 3 million more signed a petition calling for a legally binding pact "to drastically reduce production and use, and protect human health and the environment." The Saturday march at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center was led by the global Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) movement and local allies from the Uproot Plastics Coalition. They want the treaty to include targets to slash production.

Plastic, Plastic Everywhere, Even At The UN’s ‘Plastic Free’ Conference

May 12, 2024 Lisa Song, ProPublica. Educate! Plastic, Plastics Treaty, pollution, United Nations (UN)

When I registered to attend last month’s United Nations conference in Canada, organizers insisted it would be a “plastic free meeting.” I wouldn’t even get a see-through sleeve for my name tag, they warned; I’d have to reuse an old lanyard. After all, representatives from roughly 170 countries were gathering to tackle a crisis: The world churns out 400 million metric tons of plastic a year. It clogs landfills and oceans; its chemical trail seeps into our bodies. Delegates have been meeting since 2022 as part of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution in hopes of ending this year with a treaty that addresses “the full life cycle of plastic, including its production, design and disposal.”

A Behind-The-Scenes Look At The Global Plastics Treaty

December 10, 2022 Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch. Create! Environment, Plastics, Plastics Treaty, United Nations

Could countries come together to find a solution to the plastic pollution crisis? International collaboration on environmental issues has a mixed track record. The Montreal Protocol successfully reduced the refrigerants and other chemicals burning a hole in the ozone layer, but the efforts of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are still not on track to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions enough to stave off the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Now, nations are trying again with an international treaty on plastic pollution. The first meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to draft what the UN is calling “an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment” took place in Punta del Este, Uruguay, last week, from November 28 to December 2.

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