A crucial week of negotiations kicks off on Tuesday, with representatives from 176 countries gathering in Ottawa to tackle the global challenge posed by plastic.
The fourth and penultimate talks will convene for the final time in South Korea later this year, with all parties hoping to sign a binding international treaty on plastic pollution.
“This process is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to end plastic pollution,” said Eirik Lindebjerg, WWF’s global plastics policy lead. “This is a historic process.”
So far, the negotiations have resulted in a massive 69-page draft. Success in achieving this goal will be key to reaching a global treaty at the final meeting.
In the opening remarks of the draft, all parties agreed that “rapidly increasing levels of plastic pollution are a serious environmental problem on a global scale.”
But tension is over whether plastic production or waste management should be the focus of the deal, with conflicts of interest slowing progress so far.
“Otava really needs to be a turning point,” said Graham Forbes, head of Greenpeace’s global plastics program. “Global plastics treaty negotiations are at a critical moment.”
Plastic is everywhere
Plastic waste is a pervasive global problem, with seven billion tons According to the United Nations Environment Program, about 98% of single-use plastics produced globally since the 1950s have been produced directly from fossil fuels rather than recycled materials.
The OECD estimates that only nine percent of plastic produced is recycled.
Much of it ends up in landfills, some is incinerated, and other plastic pollution ends up in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Trillions of plastic fragments are harming marine ecosystems, trapping some creatures and being eaten by others. Scientists estimate that most seabirds now have plastic in their guts.
“Plastic pollution is exacerbating what we call a triple planetary crisis,” Forbes said. “It is accelerating climate change, destroying biodiversity, and has the potential to contaminate every corner of our planet, including the human body.”
The OECD estimates that plastic accounts for approximately 3.4% of emissions throughout its life cycle, making it an important contributor to rising global temperatures.
The United Nations Environment Program estimates that without action, nearly a fifth of the world’s population will shrink carbon budget By 2040, emissions quotas needed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels will be taken up by the production and use of plastics.
Previous negotiations failed to make progress
While it’s unclear what form a global plastics treaty might take, the 2022 Ipsos survey suggests there is public interest in taking some action.
In an online poll conducted in 28 countries, 75% of respondents wanted a ban on single-use plastic products as soon as possible, and a majority supported the establishment of an international treaty to combat plastic pollution.
A core group of 60 countries, including Canada, has further achieved this goal and established the “Aspirational Alliance to End Plastic Pollution” with the goal of ending plastic pollution by 2040.
But international agreements are complex and early meetings in Punta del Este, Uruguay, Paris and Nairobi are widely seen as falling short of expectations.
“What we have seen in these negotiations is that industry associations in the oil and gas and petrochemical industries are very active and often oppose global binding actions,” Lindbjerg said.
“As the world moves toward a low-carbon, fossil-fuel-free future, the fossil fuel industry is using plastic to offset declines in energy and transportation. They are simply flooding the world with plastic,” Forbes said.
The Canadian Chemical Industry Association, which represents Canadian plastics companies, said this is not the position of its members.
“I think everyone is focused on making sure this gets done by the end of the year,” Isabelle Des Chnes, the organization’s vice president of policy, told CBC News.
Control production and improve waste management
The industry is focusing on opportunities to improve reuse and recycling programs.
“There’s a lot of plastic, and there’s a lot of plastic for a reason,” Des Chines said. “It helps preserve our food […] This is very important during the shipping phase.
She hopes the treaty will address the question of how to make plastics better.
“There really is a need to think about product design, how the product was developed, whether it contains recycled content, whether it’s designed for reuse and resale, whether it’s designed for recyclability.”
A joint investigation by Fifth Estate and Enqute shows Canada is still regularly shipping plastic waste to developing countries, often illegally mixed into paper recycling containers. We asked Canada’s environmental activist, Environment Minister, what he was prepared to do about it.
Other advocacy groups argue the treaty should focus on production.
“I think the worst thing that can happen for Ottawa is that they remove the option to solve the problem of plastic production. We start a waste management treaty, throw a lot of money at bad things after bad things, and continue to imagine that we can recycle our way out of this situation,” he Said Forbes.
In fact, the proposed treaty aims to address production and waste issues.
“The vast majority of countries want to see a strong treaty with common global rules for the entire plastic life cycle,” Lindbuyo said.
The Canadian meeting, known as INC-4, is expected to be attended by more than 4,200 participants, making it the most attended meeting since INC-1 launched negotiations in Uruguay in November 2022.
INC-4 will run until April 29, with negotiators resuming talks for the fifth and final meeting in Busan, South Korea, at the end of November.
With files from Susan Ormiston and Sarah Bridge
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