After a week of negotiations towards a global plastic treaty at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, where negotiators met for the third time since 175 nations pledged early last year to fast track talks in the hope of finalizing a treaty by 2024, the talks still concluded with disagreement over how the pact should work and frustration from environmental groups over delays and the lack of progress.
The Nairobi meeting was supposed to advance the process by fine tuning the draft treaty and starting discussions about what concrete measures should target pollution from plastic, which is made from fossil fuels.
However, the treaty specifics were never really addressed, as a small number of oil-producing nations – particularly Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Russia – were accused of employing stalling tactics seen at previous negotiation rounds meant to hinder progress.
So many new proposals were put forward that the text – instead of being revised and streamlined – ballooned in size over the course of the week.
Graham Forbes from Greenpeace said the meeting had “failed” its objectives and urged governments to take a harder line in future negotiations on nations not acting in good faith. Anger was also directed at UNEP, with civil society alliance group GAIA accusing the hosts of overseeing “an undisciplined and meandering” meeting that allowed a minority to hold proceedings “hostage.”
Global demand for plastic has seen production double in 20 years and at current rates, it could triple by 2060 without action, according to the OECD. Ninety percent of plastic is not recycled, with most dumped in nature or improperly burned.
Around 60 “high ambition” nations have called for a treaty that eliminates some plastic products through bans and phase outs, and enshrines rules to reduce plastic production and consumption.
Eirik Lindebjerg of the World Wide Fund for Nature said despite frustrations, the process had not been derailed, and a majority of countries still supported a strong treaty. He optimistically said that the treaty is behind schedule, but not off track.
As we hope for the best outcome in the negotiations towards a global plastic treaty among nations, let us also lay the groundwork among our families and communities when it comes to doing what we can about the scourge of plastic pollution, especially among Filipinos who have been identified as one of the world’s top polluters, particularly when it comes to plastic waste.*
