– Time is not on our side. We must start negotiating on the opening day, says the Ecuadorian diplomat Luis Vayas Valdivieso, who is leading the negotiations, to the Reuters news agency.
Representatives of the vast majority of countries in the world begin the round of negotiations on Tuesday in Canada’s capital, Ottawa.
This is the penultimate meeting before a global agreement on plastic pollution is scheduled to land in South Korea in December.
In animals and humans
The world’s production of plastic has more than doubled in the last 20 years to 460 million tonnes per year. The concern is that far too much of this ends up in nature.
Plastic waste is found today in large parts of the world, not least in the sea. Small plastic particles – microplastics – have been found in the bodies of many types of animals, and in human blood and breast milk. For the time being, it is unclear what health damage the microplastics may cause.
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In addition, plastic production leads to large emissions of greenhouse gases. An important reason is that most of the plastic is made from oil and natural gas.
A number of researchers have therefore advocated limiting the amount of plastic produced in order to limit the problems.
Awaiting growth
5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 came from plastic production, according to a new report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US.
12 percent of the world’s oil production went into making plastic.
If nothing is done, it is likely that plastic production will double or triple by 2050. Then emissions will also rise sharply.
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The same can happen with plastic littering, if nothing drastic happens with waste management. Already today, it is estimated that 110 million tonnes of plastic are irresponsibly handled annually.
Struggle against
Among the countries in the negotiations, there are very different opinions about how strict the plastics agreement should be.
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Many countries that themselves produce plastic or oil are skeptical about setting limits on how much plastic can be produced. Neither the USA, China, Saudi Arabia nor Iran are eager for such rules.
They are supported by industry organizations for plastic manufacturing companies and the petrochemical industry, which are also present at the meeting in Ottawa.
However, Norway is part of and leads a coalition of countries that want a stricter agreement. Development Minister Anne Beathe Tvinnereim (Sp) is leading the Norwegian effort, and at the weekend she attended meetings in Ottawa ahead of the negotiation round itself.
Norwegian money
At the same time as the negotiations begin in Ottawa, the government in Norway announces that it is providing up to NOK 1 billion extra for work to prevent plastic pollution in developing countries.
– If nothing is done now, plastic pollution will double in the next twenty years. What we are giving now will help overcome this, says Tvinnereim in a statement.
She believes that a legally binding international plastic agreement can reduce plastic pollution by as much as 90 per cent by 2040.
The goal of putting an international plastic agreement in place this year was adopted at the UN Environment Assembly in 2022. This meeting was chaired by Norway’s then Minister for Climate and Environment Espen Barth Eide (Ap).
Tags: Negotiations plastics agreement Time side
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