TALKS to agree a treaty to end plastic pollution have failed, after a number of oil producing nations refused to agree a cap on plastic production.
This week’s meeting in Busan, South Korea, had been intended to bring about a historic treaty that Greenpeace suggested would be the most important global treaty since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The meeting was the last stage in a two-year process, after more than 170 nations backed a UN resolution in March 2022 to end plastic pollution.
Instead of of celebrating a landmark deal, however, participants were only able to agree to postpone a decision and to resume talks at some undefined point in the future.
Oil-rich nations, led by Saudi Arabia, refused to accept a proposal to limit production. The majority of plastic is produced from oil or natural gas, and is estimated to be responsible for five per cent of global emissions. Since 1950, more than eight billion tonnes of plastic have been produced globally, but less than ten per cent has been recycled, the UN has estimated. On current projections, plastic waste could triple by 2050.
The key area of contention which blocked a landmark deal was whether there should be a legally blinding pledge to reduce plastic production in addition to increasing efforts to recycle.
A group of 95 countries, including the UK, EU, African Group, and many South American nations, backed the pledge, but Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, and Russia refused to agree, saying that it would exacerbate “economic inequality”.
The charity Tearfund, which has been campaigning on plastic pollution, said that while countries failed to agree, those living in poverty were suffering the worst impact of plastic pollution.
Mari Williams, a senior policy associate from the charity, said: “Throughout the negotiations, we saw the petro-states, driven by their fossil fuel interests, obstruct and seek to derail the process. Meanwhile people living in poverty across the world will continue to suffer the worst impacts of plastic pollution — on their lives, health, and livelihoods.
“We cannot let a small number of states stand in the way of the strong, ambitious, and fair treaty the world needs. Such a treaty is still possible, and must be fought for.”
No support could be agreed on for waste pickers in any transition period. Waste pickers collect 60 per cent of the world’s plastic for recycling, yet receive low incomes and work in dangerous conditions. Their representatives were not included in the negotiations, and Ms Williams said that “justice for waste pickers and other vulnerable groups must become a mandatory part of the treaty text.”