Keystone-SDA
Oil countries are still blocking any progress in plastic negotiations in Geneva. After two days, a “deaf dialogue” is observed between the different camps, admitted on Wednesday evening an diplomatic source from an ambitious country.
(Keystone-ATS) “For the moment, nothing is successful at all,” said some journalists this delegate of one of the more than 170 states that have participated in talks since Tuesday. “We are facing countries that multiply blockages,” she says.
She admits that this scenario is not unusual at the start of each series of international negotiations. “But what is worrying is that there are a lot of problems” to solve again.
At the center of attention, the countries which had opposed South Korea to any agreement remain little open to the discussion. Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia take states with them, some of which fear the economic effects of a treaty to eliminate plastic pollution.
China seems harder than expected. And the administration of Donald Trump brought together the American position of opponents. According to convergent sources, countries have even received threats from the United States so as not to cause a vote on a possible agreement, rather than a decision by consensus.
Divided on production and a list
To convince refractory, the most ambitious countries are ready not to impose a threshold for reducing plastic production in the treaty. But this approach in the sense of petroleum countries is not enough for the moment.
Despite hours of discussion, no movement was obtained on this issue, said the diplomatic source. At least it would be necessary to set a delay for a target objective of a decrease, she added.
Another problem, recalcitrant countries also call them into question the scenario of a list of prohibited materials. On the other hand, discussions are more open to other differences, such as a financing mechanism for developing countries which should lead the greatest efforts. However, the United States refuses that China, the largest producer in front of them, can receive part of this windfall.
According to the diplomatic source, most states will have to be convinced that “the treaty can be the beginning” of new economic possibilities for many countries.
Request by the ILO
For its part, the International Labor Organization (ILO) asked States on Wednesday to “protect workers”, “exposed to toxic chemicals throughout the plastic cycle, from production to waste management”. “The right to a safe and healthy work environment should be guaranteed for everyone in the treaty,” an official of these questions in the institution said in a video.
In almost 25 years, plastic consumption has more than doubled and stood, according to estimates for 2024, 500 million tonnes, of which almost 400 million ends up waste. If the situation is not stabilized, it will still be multiplied by three by 2060, beyond 1.2 billion tonnes. Just like waste, more than a billion tonnes.
According to Greenpeace, Switzerland arrives in second position of the highest risky population. More than 10% of the inhabitants, or 973,000 people, are less than 10 km from a production site linked to plastic. And experts consider losses related to the effects of plastic pollution worldwide for health each year at at least $ 1500 billion.