Nations to try again to confront world's 'spiraling' #plastic #pollution

Nations gather in Geneva Tues to try to complete a landmark #treaty aimed at ending the #PlasticPollution crisis that affects every #ecosystem & person on the planet.

It’s the 6th time negotiators are meeting & they hope the last. A key split is whether the treaty should require cutting plastic production, w/powerful #oil-producing nations opposed; most plastic is made from #FossilFuels.

#Climate
https://apnews.com/article/plastic-pollution-treaty-negotiations-united-nations-geneva-615d096e211daa1593c7d0f16745f1ff

Nations gather in Geneva to again confront the world's spiraling plastic pollution crisis

Nations have started a crucial meeting to finalize a treaty to tackle the global plastic pollution crisis. Tuesday's meeting is the sixth and possibly final negotiation round. A major debate is whether to cut plastic production, with oil-producing countries opposing it. They argue that redesign, recycling, and reuse can solve the issue. Others, including some major companies, disagree. The United Nations Environment Programme highlights the urgency, noting millions of tons of plastic waste enter aquatic ecosystems annually. The U.S. opposes global production caps, focusing on waste management and recycling. The meeting in Geneva involves thousands of participants and aims to create a binding agreement.

AP News

#UnitedNations #Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen said the issues are complex but the crisis is “really spiraling” & there’s a narrow pathway to a #treaty. She said many countries agree on redesigning #plastic products to be #recycled & improving #waste management, for example.

Between 19 million & 23 million tons of plastic waste leak into #AquaticEcosystems annually, that could jump 50% by 2040 without urgent action, according to the #UN.

#PlasticPollution #FossilFuels

About 300 businesses that are members of the Business Coalition for a Global #PlasticsTreaty — companies such as Walmart, the Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, & L’Oréal—support reducing production along with increasing recycling & reuse. The coalition includes major food & beverage companies & retailers who want an effective, binding treaty with global rules to spare them the headaches of differing approaches in different countries.

#plastic #PlasticPollution #FossilFuels #Climate #health #wildlife

Some plastic-producing & #oil & #gas countries firmly oppose production limits. #SaudiArabia, the world’s largest exporter of one common type of #plastic, has led that group in asserting there should be no problem producing plastic if the world addresses #PlasticPollution.

The #US doesn’t support global production caps or bans on certain plastic products or #chemical additives to them.

#FossilFuels #Oceans #Climate #health #wildlife

The #State Dept says it supports provisions to improve waste collection & management, improve product design & drive recycling, reuse & other efforts to cut the #plastic dumped into the #environment.

“If the negotiations are to succeed, the agreement must be aimed at protecting the environment from #PlasticPollution, & the agreement should recognize the importance #plastics play in our economies,” the State Dept said in a statement to AP.

#FossilFuels #Oceans #Climate #health #wildlife

That’s similar to the views of the #plastics industry, which says that a production cap could have unintended consequences, such as raising the cost of plastics, & that #chemicals are best regulated elsewhere.

#China, the #UnitedStates & #Germany lead the global plastics trade by exports & imports, according to the Plastics Industry Association.

#plastic #PlasticPollution #FossilFuels #Oceans #Climate #health #wildlife

Update

Nations Meet in Geneva in a Final Push to End #PlasticPollution

#UN negotiators have 10 days to craft a global #PlasticsTreaty. Environmental advocates say reaching an agreement to cap production is key, but industry & #petrostates are pushing back.

Delegates from 184 countries met in Geneva Tuesday to resume negotiations in the last scheduled opportunity to halt the escalating plastic pollution crisis through a legally binding global agreement.

#law #plastics
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05082025/un-plastic-committee-resumes-negotiations-in-geneva/

Nations Meet in Geneva in a Final Push to End Plastic Pollution - Inside Climate News

U.N. negotiators have 10 days to craft a global plastic treaty. Environmental advocates say reaching an agreement to cap production is key, but industry and petrostates are pushing back.

Inside Climate News

More

#Plastic production is set to triple by 2060, fueled by petrochemical-producing countries.

A global “#PlasticsCrisis” is costing governments & taxpayers $1.5 trillion annually as they try to cope with escalating injuries, #disability & #deaths as the substance pollutes our land, seas & bodies, acc/to a new report by leading #medical journal The Lancet.

#law #PlasticsTreaty #PlasticPollution #FossilFuels #Oceans #Climate #health #wildlife
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01447-3/abstract

#Plastics are a grave, growing, & under-recognised danger to human & planetary #health. Plastics cause #disease & #death from infancy to old age & are responsible for health-related economic losses exceeding US$1.5 trillion annually. These impacts fall disproportionately upon #LowIncome & #AtRisk populations.

#law #PlasticsTreaty #PlasticPollution #FossilFuels #Oceans #Climate #environment #wildlife

“The principal driver of this crisis is accelerating growth in #plastic production—from 2 megatonnes (Mt) in 1950, to 475 Mt in 2022 that is projected to be 1200 Mt by 2060. #PlasticPollution has also worsened, & 8000 Mt of plastic waste now pollute the #planet. Less than 10% of plastic is #recycled. Yet, continued worsening of #plastics' harms is not inevitable.

#law #PlasticsTreaty #health #FossilFuels #Oceans #Climate #environment #wildlife

#Similar to air #pollution & lead, #plastics' harms can be mitigated cost-effectively by evidence-based, transparently tracked, effectively implemented, & adequately financed laws & policies. To address plastics' harms globally, #UN member states unanimously resolved in 2022 to develop a comprehensive, legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, namely the Global #PlasticsTreaty covering the full lifecycle of #plastic.

#law #health #FossilFuels #Oceans #Climate #environment #wildlife

“Coincident with the expected finalisation of this treaty, we are launching an independent, indicator-based global monitoring system: the Lancet Countdown on #health & #plastics. This Countdown will identify, track, & regularly report on a suite of geographically & temporally representative indicators that monitor progress toward reducing #plastic exposures & mitigating plastics' harms to human & planetary health.”

#law #PlasticsTreaty #FossilFuels #Oceans #Climate #environment #wildlife

@Nonilex If the negotiations are to succeed, we must value above all else the right of capitalists to poison us indefinitely for their personal profit

@Nonilex

Any agreement that relies on recycling is destined to fail.
The only way to reduce plastic pollution is to reduce the production of plastic and to place the financial burden of cleaning up plastic pollution on plastic manufacturers.

@joeinwynnewood
Yep, make plastic producers incorporate the externalities since they’re so keen to do the right thing. 🙂
Otherwise they profit while we pay; what’s that called again…? 🤔

Thx for your excellent reporting! @Nonilex

@Nonilex I guess we shouldn't hold our breath. Big oil and the plastics sector will only be happy when every living thing on the planet becomes 100% plasticised. Not a great business model - killing iff your customers and every other living thing.
@Nonilex
Here's why nothing will come of this effort: