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This conference shows a frustrating trend of polluters dominating meetings and holding up progress.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Just last week, the second round of international plastic treaty negotiations wrapped. So, what went down and what’s next?
Despite delay tactics, outsized industry influence and limited participation from civil society representatives, the treaty process continues to inch forwards.
From the start, negotiations were bogged down by drawn-out, rambling questions around rules of procedure, put forth by delegates from a few major oil and plastic-producing countries. Because of this, the first two and a half days of a five day meeting were largely unproductive.
Certain industry-aligned governments with vested petrochemical interests, including Saudi Arabia, pushed for voting by consensus, effectively giving any one country full veto power. We were glad to see some delegates, in particular those from Mexico and Senegal, take a stand and try to get things back on track. This strategy to delay and derail discussions will likely continue at future negotiations, further hindering progress as we go.
There was also limited access afforded to representatives of civil society, including Indigenous Peoples, fenceline communities, waste pickers, youth, scientists, advocates and more. Meanwhile, industry lobbyists alone numbered close to 200 in attendance. With more access to the event, petrochemical companies continued to promote false solutions like plastic offsetting and chemical recycling. Along the same vein, we still see some countries focusing on waste management and downstream band aid fixes, rather than tackling plastic pollution from the source.
On the bright side, more nations like Rwanda, Ecuador, Mexico, the European Union and others are leading the way with calls to reduce plastic production, prioritize the health of those most impacted by the plastic supply chain and establish reuse as the gold standard.
So what’s next? The next round of negotiations will take place at INC-3 in Nairobi, Kenya in November. Between now and then, leaders will start developing a first rough draft of the treaty text. Ultimately, countries have until the end of 2024 to finalize the terms of the Global Plastics Treaty.
We, alongside our partners around the world, are keeping an eye on this and pushing global leaders for a treaty that’s actually effective. And no matter how you’re tackling the plastics problem, we need you too.
Onwards, together!
Alex and the Story of Stuff Team
“People want the product, not all the packaging.”
How can we can establish and scale up reuse systems? Let’s dive in.
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