Canadian negotiators in the United Nations plastic pollution treaty negotiations in South Korea said Thursday they were working “around the clock” to reach a final agreement, but the process was predictably difficult. said.
Negotiators from 177 countries are meeting in Busan for what should be the fifth and final round of negotiations to create a legally binding international treaty to eliminate plastic waste by 2040.
Scientists estimate that more than 350 million tonnes of plastic is thrown away every year. Less than one-tenth of it is recycled, and more than one-fifth ends up in the environment, where it is harmful to humans and all of nature.
Canada was instrumental in bringing the countries together to discuss the treaty, and hosted the final round of negotiations in Ottawa in April.
Environment and Climate Change Canada officials held a technical backgrounder for the media Thursday on the department’s approach to negotiations. They did not say whether a deal could be reached by the end of negotiations on Sunday.
Officials said there was a divide between countries such as Canada, which called for a decisive approach, and others who wanted voluntary action or reduced scope.
Officials say the key in the final days will be finding common ground with countries that are less open to the idea of a legal agreement.
Parties are working towards agreement on the text of the treaty, rather than adopting the text by majority vote.
Canadian officials say consensus is the best chance to get all countries committed to change.
“This past week has been extremely frustrating, with fundamentally less ambitious countries gaining the upper hand in negotiations,” said Karen Wilsig, senior program manager for plastics at Canadian environmental advocacy group Environmental Defense. “I was given a lot of help,” he said.
The group is one of more than 600 observer organizations participating in the South Korean meeting.
On Wednesday, Canada signed a resolution with 100 other countries committing to future discussions on global goals to reduce plastic production to sustainable levels.
“So this is a very good move in what would otherwise be a very frustrating and time-consuming round of negotiations,” Wilsig said, adding that the proposal had become a “consensus offer” for many countries.
“We know there will be some difficulty in getting Canada to agree to strict production targets, but what we need in this agreement is a commitment from each country to reduce plastic production and a “Once it’s signed, we’ll go to a meeting and hear their views. We asked experts what is a sustainable level of plastic production,” she said.
Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault said Canada is not opposed to a cap on plastic production, but it may be too complex to reach agreement among other countries.
He said jumping ahead with Wednesday’s resolution was a step toward achieving a “high level” of ambition in the final agreement.
“Together with our international partners, we are working tirelessly to reach a strong and effective agreement to end plastic pollution by the end of this year,” Guilbeault said in a media statement.
In 2022, Canada will begin phasing out a ban on some single-use plastic products, including straws, shopping bags, cutlery, takeout containers, stir sticks and six-pack rings for beverage containers.
But plastic manufacturers and chemical companies successfully argued in federal court that the government’s declaration of all plastics as hazardous was too broad, a designation that Canada used to enact its ban. The case is currently before a federal appeals court.
In 2020, Canada produced more than 7.1 million tonnes of plastic, of which only 5% was recycled material. Approximately 5 million tons of plastic ended up as waste, with less than 10 percent recycled.
Although plastic can be broken down to microscopic levels, it never completely dissolves and can end up in soil and water sources.
Earlier this year, Canadian researchers published a study that found microplastics were found in 16 types of protein, including fish, seafood, beef, pork, chicken, plant-based fish sticks, and ground beef. .
