Plastic Pollution Treaty's Creation Uncertain Due to Conflicting Views; Oil-Producing Countries Fear Impact on Resource
Conflicting opinions among the participating countries, however, are dampening the chances of the treaty being concluded. Japan has been working to promote drafting of the treaty and is calling on other countries to cooperate.
The U.N. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meeting intended to yield the world's first treaty on plastic waste in Busan, South Korea, during talks from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1 last year but failed to do so due to opposition from oil-producing countries. There are fears that, if no agreement is reached this time, momentum for drafting the treaty may be lost.
Opinions divided
'Although there is still a great deal of uncertainty, we will proactively and constructively engage in negotiations to reach a conclusion,' Environment Minister Keiichiro Asao said at a press conference after a Cabinet meeting Friday.
Plastic waste, the majority of which does not decompose in nature, moves across and beyond national borders via rivers and oceans, causing serious environmental damage.
The U.N. Environment Assembly adopted a resolution in 2022 to create a legally binding treaty to prevent pollution by plastic waste. More than 170 countries and regions have been holding discussions once or twice a year since, with the aim of establishing a comprehensive treaty that regulates the production of plastic products, discourages single-use plastics and promotes recycling, among other things.
However, from the outset, opinions have been strongly divided, particularly on production restrictions.
Island nations where large amounts of plastic waste have washed ashore have proposed setting global targets for reducing plastic use and banning the production as well as the import and export of harmful plastic products. The European Union and African nations have agreed with these proposals.
Russia, Saudi Arabia and other major producers of oil, the main raw material for plastic, have strongly opposed such moves, saying they would lead to a reduction in petroleum exports. Emphasizing the usefulness of plastic products in medical and other areas, the oil producers demanded that wording that could lead to production regulations not be included in the treaty.
The negotiations in Busan ended with only a 'draft text' that included both sides' arguments. Luis Vayas, ambassador of Ecuador to Britain, who chaired the meeting, said the work was far from complete.
Proposal for compromise
The creation of environmental treaties is based on the principle of consensus among countries and regions. During the previous five rounds of negotiations, there were some areas where participating parties were largely in agreement, such as the establishment of systems for collecting plastic waste. Some participants therefore have proposed creating a treaty based only on the areas where agreement is deemed possible.
However, it remains unclear whether such compromises will be accepted. Island nations, for instance, have said that such acts would render the treaty ineffective.
The inauguration of the second administration of U.S. President Donald Trump in January has also cast a shadow over the negotiations. The United States discarded the largest volume of plastic containers and packages per capita as of 2015.
Trump in February criticized the previous U.S. administration's initiative to promote the use of paper straws as 'ridiculous' and signed an executive order to halt it.
The United States had previously taken a position between the island nations and oil-producing countries. But the possibility of Washington shifting closer to the oil producers in the current negotiations has been pointed out.
'Last chance'
Japan led the compilation of the 'Osaka Blue Ocean Vision' in 2019, which aims for there to be no further plastic pollution in the world's oceans by 2050, at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka. Tokyo also submitted a draft resolution to the 2022 U.N. Environment Assembly pushing for the establishment of the treaty on plastic waste.
In intergovernmental negotiations, Japan has advocated measures to reduce plastic production that are tailored to each country's circumstances in a bid to encourage both island nations and oil-producing countries to cooperate.
A resolution at the U.N. Environment Assembly set a target of finalizing the treaty by the end of 2024. The talks in Geneva, which are scheduled to conclude on Aug. 14, are being viewed as 'over time.'
'If no compromise is reached this time, the momentum for the establishment of the treaty could quickly be dampened. This may be our last chance [to conclude the treaty],' a senior Environment Ministry official said.
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