Plastic waste containment: talks bring little progress
According to participants, negotiating states have made little progress in drawing up a globally binding agreement to curb plastic waste. In the third round of negotiations, the representatives of the approximately 170 member states of the United Nations "came to a standstill", WWF Germany announced in a statement last night.
The states had been negotiating for seven days until late Sunday evening in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which organized the conference, had yet to make an official announcement.
"The braking maneuvers and the resistance of oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iran cost a lot of time and almost brought the negotiations to a complete standstill," said WWF Senior Policy Advisor Florian Titze. Accordingly, no mandate could be given to continue political work on the text between the negotiation rounds, nor for technical working groups on the scientific basis of the agreement. According to Titze, both were urgently needed to ensure the timetable. However, the states had agreed that the agreement must cover the entire life cycle of plastic - not just issues relating to waste disposal and treatment.
Representatives of the UN member states decided in March 2022 to strive for a global agreement on dealing with plastics. It is intended to define binding measures for the entire life cycle of plastics - from the quantities in which individual materials are produced to the design of plastic products and the disposal and recycling of plastic waste. Following meetings in Uruguay and France, the third of five rounds of negotiations took place in Kenya last week. There are to be two more next year, leading to a summit of states in mid-2025 to finalize the agreement.
- Despite the lack of progress, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) continues to push for a comprehensive agreement that covers the entire life cycle of plastic, not just waste disposal and treatment.
- The UN Under-Secretary-General for Environmental Affairs, Inger Andersen, highlights the urgent need for effective plastic waste management, as plastic pollution contributes significantly to climate change and environmental degradation.
- Various environmental organizations, such as WWF, UNEP, and the UN, warn that the failure to address plastic waste will have serious consequences for future generations, emphasizing the importance of taking decisive action.
- The UN is calling on all member states to work collaboratively to address the issue of plastic waste, recognizing that this is not just an environmental challenge but also a global social and economic concern.
Source: www.dpa.com
