The France organized a meeting in Paris where ministers and representatives of sixty countries debated, Saturday, May 27, at UNESCO headquarters, solutions to the global plastic crisis. This pre-summit aims to prepare the second round of negotiations on the first-ever global treaty to combat plastic pollution, which will be held from 29 May to 2 June at UNESCO. The summit will bring together representatives from 175 states to define the first outlines of a binding treaty on plastic pollution under the auspices of the United Nations.

A figure to measure the extent of plastic pollution: 460 million tons of plastic are produced each year worldwide and less than 10% is recycled. Two-thirds end up thrown into the environment, with catastrophic consequences for marine animals in particular, but also for human health.

" READ ALSO – Ocean plastic pollution reaches an "unprecedented levels" for 15 years

Petrochemical plastic is everywhere: packaging, clothing fibers, construction equipment, medical tools. Garbage of all sizes ends up at the bottom of the oceans, in the pack ice, the stomachs of birds, fish, and even on top of mountains. Microplastics have also been detected in human blood, breast milk or the placenta.

"Plastic is in nature and now it is in our lungs, so it is high time to stop this invasion, first by stopping the growth of plastic production," French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said ahead of the debates.

In particular, it is necessary to "eliminate single-use plastic (...) That's 40% of global production that is frankly useless," she added.

>> Read also: "40 kilos of plastic rain": in Paris, an unprecedented weather to fight against pollution

Towards a "legally binding" treaty

Discussions on Saturday morning focused on "the production, consumption and sustainable use of plastics to achieve a circular economy". The afternoon was devoted to the "rational management of plastic waste" and the prevention of its release into the environment.

Today, two-thirds of the world's production is discarded after one or a few uses and less than 10% of plastic waste is recycled. And annual production, which has more than doubled in twenty years to 460 million tonnes, could triple again by 2060 if nothing is done.

"We must be careful that the issue of recycling does not replace the debate on reducing the production of plastics," added the French Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu. If we increase our recycling rates, but at the same time we increase our production, we will have gone backwards in solving the problem."

"So, firstly we reduce, secondly we increase the share of recycling," added the Minister of Ecological Transition.

.@MinColonna & @ChristopheBechu are opening today in Paris the 2nd negotiation on plastic pollution. With 1 historical objective: a legally binding international treaty. For our health, for our planète.@UNEP @France_UNESCO@BCouillard33 pic.twitter.com/41Q3ZQgVWN

— France Diplomacy🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@francediplo) May 27, 2023

The reduction of "essential" production

His remarks refer to the goal of "reducing use and production" put forward by the most ambitious countries: a coalition of 55 countries led by Rwanda and Norway, including the European Union, Canada, Chile and, since Friday, Japan and Gabon.

This objective is also hammered home by NGOs and scientists. But other nations, on the side of Asia (China and India in particular) or the United States, are more reluctant and insist above all on recycling and the fight against waste abandoned in nature.

"The best evidence shows that reducing production will be key to solving the problem," said Professor Richard Thompson, director of the Marine Institute and School of Biological and Marine Sciences at the University of Plymouth, UK and a member of the Coalition of Scientists for a Successful Plastics Treaty.

The small share of recycling is also explained because "few products have been designed for a circular economy", he explained, recalling the need to "redesign materials".

Just over a year ago in Nairobi, Kenya, 175 countries reached an agreement in principle to end plastic pollution worldwide with the ambition to develop a legally binding treaty under the auspices of the United Nations by the end of 2024.

After initial technical negotiations at the end of 2022 in Uruguay, Paris is hosting the second session of the five scheduled from Monday to Friday.

Governance issues have so far dominated the exchanges, but the five days of discussions should make it possible to draw the main orientations, or even a first draft text.

The stakes are high while plastic, in addition to its deleterious effects on the health of animals and humans, also poses a problem for its role in global warming: it accounted for 1.8 billion tons of greenhouse gases in 2019, 3.4% of global emissions, a figure that could more than double by 2060 according to the OECD.

In April in Japan, the G7 set a goal of reducing plastic emissions into the environment to zero by 2040.

With AFP

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