Global plastic talks collapse as oil states rebel

by Esme Stallard in BBC News (thanks to Mike C.)

More than nine billion tonnes of plastic has been produced globally with less than 10% recycled

Countries have failed to reach a landmark agreement on tackling plastic pollution after more than two years of negotiations.

More than 200 nations met in South Korea for what was meant to be a final round of talks.

But deep divisions remained between a group of nearly 100 “high ambition” countries calling for plastic to be phased out and oil-producing nations who warned this would affect the world’s development.

“The objective of this treaty is to end plastic pollution not plastic itself, plastic has brought immense benefit to societies worldwide,” said the Kuwait negotiators in the final hours.

In 2022, the world’s nations agreed that a global treaty was needed to tackle the issue of plastic pollution particularly the impacts on the marine environment – and this should be completed within two years given the urgency of the issue.

Since 1950, more than eight billion tonnes of plastic have been produced globally but less than 10% has been recycled, estimates the United Nations. (continued)

This entry was posted in Advocacy, environment, Government. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *