Highlights: Negotiators from 175 states, but also representatives of NGOs and industries are meeting this Monday in Paris for five days of discussions. The objective of these negotiations is to find common objectives for an International Treaty against Plastic Pollution. Annual plastic production has more than doubled in 20 years to 460 million tonnes. Plastic is also problematic for its role in global warming: it accounted for 1.8 billion tons of greenhouse gases in 2019, 3.4% of global emissions, according to the OECD.

The second negotiating session for a future international treaty to end plastic pollution begins this Monday in Paris at the premises of Unesco and is due to end on Friday 2 June....

International treaty on plastic pollution: delicate negotiations open in Paris

The second negotiating session for a future international treaty to end plastic pollution begins this Monday in Paris at the premises of UNESCO and is due to end on Friday 2 June. But the debates are expected to be tense.

Annual plastic production has more than doubled in 20 years to 460 million tonnes. Here in 2018 in Mumbai, India. AP - Rafiq Maqbool

Text by: RFI Follow

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Negotiators from 175 states, but also representatives of NGOs and industries are meeting this Monday in Paris for five days of discussions under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The objective of these negotiations is to find common objectives for an International Treaty against Plastic Pollution. Despite an alarming observation, the debates promise to be tense. Because while all states agree that we must fight against plastic pollution, they are far from agreeing on the extent of the efforts to be made.

On the one hand, the most ambitious countries gathered in a coalition chaired by Norway and Rwanda. It includes members of the European Union, Canada, Japan and Senegal. They are calling for a reduction in production, including single-use plastics, improved recycling and reuse, but also a ban on certain dangerous chemical additives and the establishment of a polluter-pays principle.

On the other, countries that are less ambitious, but that weigh heavily on the international scene. Among them, the United States, China, India, Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries, the raw material at the origin of plastic. They do not want to penalize their economy. There is no question of them reducing production; It is rather on the treatment of waste that they want to focus actions. These countries are also reluctant to have an overly binding treaty and to be accountable to the UN on common and strict objectives.

Also listen: Asia Frequency – Plastic pollution in Asia: "There is no global approach"

The involvement of the plastics industry, which is worth billions of dollars and millions of jobs, in this process of discussion is also a source of concern for NGOs. About 175 of them, led by Greenpeace, wrote to UNEP listing a series of measures against "undue influence by petrochemical companies" in the negotiations. Their representatives, including the European association Plastics Europe, will be present at UNESCO, where not all professional, scientific or associative observers will be able to enter every day due to lack of space.

It's really not normal that they are there in the negotiating space. Because their goal is to perpetuate oil and gas extraction, to continue to make as much plastic as possible.

Joëlle Hérin, expert with Greenpeace

Murielle Paradon

One credit card per person per week

The stakes of these negotiations are high while plastic, derived from petroleum, is everywhere: in packaging, clothing fibers, construction equipment, medical tools... And its annual production, which has more than doubled in 20 years to 460 million tonnes (Mt), could triple again by 2060 if nothing is done.

Also listen: It's not wind – Plastic: it's overflowing!

This situation is all the more worrying given that two-thirds are discarded after one or a few uses and that less than 10% of plastic waste is recycled. Waste of all sizes ends up at the bottom of the oceans, in the pack ice, the stomachs of birds and even at the top of mountains. Microplastics have been detected in blood, breast milk or placenta. A study commissioned by WWF from Newcastle University in 2019 showed that an individual consumed an average of five grams of plastic particles per week, the equivalent of a credit card.

Plastic is also problematic 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. If plastic were a country, it would be the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. "The effects of plastic are both the production from fossil fuels, so oil and gas, but it is also all the additives that are very toxic and very harmful and are therefore very bad for the environment and for our health. More than 700 species of marine animals are threatened by plastic pollution," warns Juliette Franquet, director of the NGO Zero Waste France, at the microphone of RFI.

As the host country of this second round of negotiations, France will lead the discussions. It will therefore have to succeed in reconciling divergent opinions, dealing with petrochemical industry lobbies and environmental activists. The idea is to be able to draw up the main guidelines, or even a first draft text, before the next negotiating sessions. There will be at least three more before a final treaty, perhaps by the end of 2024.

International treaty on plastic pollution: delicate negotiations open in Paris

International treaty on plastic pollution: delicate negotiations open in Paris

One credit card per person per week

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