Plastic treaty: Geneva, the hope of a global agreement

From the oceans to the human body, will the planet begin to deplast to the shore of Lake Geneva? Representatives of nearly 180 countries meet in Geneva Tuesday for a new crucial diplomatic sequence, in the hope of developing the first world treaty to eliminate plastic pollution.

Against the backdrop of exacerbated geopolitical and commercial tensions, this additional ten-day intergovernmental negotiations (baptized Cin5-2) was added after the failure of the discussions in Busan in South Korea in December. A group of oil producing countries has blocked any progress there.

The stake is enormous. If nothing is done, global plastic consumption could triple by 2060, according to the projections of the OECD. And the production of plastic waste in the soils, rivers, from the mountain top to the oceans, should jump from 50% by 2040, according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), which provides the UN negotiation secretariat. The planet currently produces 460 million tonnes of plastic each year, half of which are for single use. And less than 10% of plastic waste is recycled.

By breaking down into micro and nanoplastics which contaminate ecosystems, polymers penetrate into blood and human organs show recent studies. The consequences, still largely unknown on the health of current and future generations, are denounced by coordination of some 450 scientists from 65 countries which follow the debates.

Despite the extreme complexity of negotiation, which affects antagonistic interests of modern society (chemicals, economic development versus environment, health), “it is very possible to leave Geneva with a treaty,” the Danish Andersen, an executive director of the UNEP, this week.

The diplomat who presides over the debates, the Ecuadorian Luis Vayas Valdivieso, published after the failure of Busan a draft text comprising more than 300 points of disagreement which will have to be negotiated until August 14, before reaching a treaty. The most difficult concerns the fact of registering (or not) in the treaty a limitation of the production of new plastics, notes Saeed Hamid, of a coalition bringing together 39 island states. Oil countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran or Russia do not want to hear about it. Another hard point, the establishment of a list of chemicals deemed “problematic” for health or the environment: PFAS (so -called “eternal” pollutants), endocrine disruptors, phthalates, bisphenols …

“No one wants to see a new extension of the negotiation (…) It is possible that a treaty of Treaty emerges from the discussions, even if it will probably be without funding, without guts and soulless,” notes with AFP Bjorn Beeler, director of the NGO Ipen network, based in Sweden.

“The context is difficult,” adds a diplomatic source that requires anonymity “since we cannot completely rule out what is happening elsewhere in multilateralism, and therefore the new role of the United States, or the BRICS that work to reorganize”.

The challenges “attract the attention of developing countries”, either because they are plastic producers with a risk of a strong impact on their economy if the treaty is adopted, or because they undergo plastic pollution and demand accounts “, underlines the same source.

In Nice in June, during the UN conference on the oceans, 96 countries, ranging from tiny island states to Zimbabwe via the 27 of the European Union, Mexico or Senegal, called for an ambitious treaty, including an objective of reducing plastics.

“This should not be, as some in particular in the industry request, a treaty relating only to the financing of plastic waste management,” worries Ilane Seid, president of the Alliance of Small island states. “During this final negotiation, governments must act in the interest of people, not polluters,” adds Graham Forces de Greenpeace, who denounces the massive presence of lobbyists of the fossil industry on the sidelines of negotiations.