Latest news with #IntergovernmentalNegotiatingCommittee
Korea Herald
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Seoul's bid for leniency on binding plastic cuts in UN treaty faces scrutiny
Despite President Lee Jae-myung's pledge to 'de-plastic' by the end of 2025, South Korea is drawing scrutiny for proposing softer language for a key provision in UN-led treaty negotiations aimed at reducing plastic waste. The South Korean government submitted amendments in tandem with Brazil to a draft provision mandating countries to reduce hazardous plastic products during the resumed fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee tasked with finalizing a legally binding international treaty on plastic pollution. The INC-5.2 began Tuesday in Geneva and will continue until Thursday. The second part of the INC-5 was launched as participating country representatives failed to reach a full consensus on what should and should not be included in a binding agreement against plastic pollution during the first INC-5 at Busan in December 2024. The original text, proposed jointly by Switzerland and Mexico, stated that each supporting state 'shall reduce' harmful plastic products with legally binding force. The definition of harmful plastics included plastics that risk leaking into the environment or human bodies, contain chemicals with potential health or environmental impacts, cannot be feasibly recycled or reused at scale or significantly obstruct circular economy efforts. A total of 77 countries — including all 27 EU member states and 14 Pacific Island nations formally backed the proposal, according to the UN Environment Program. However, the proposal submitted by South Korea and Brazil sought to revise the text to a more suggestive tone — requiring parties to 'take appropriate measures to address, manage, reduce or prohibit' harmful plastic products. In the proposal, two countries also suggested taking each country's 'circumstances, capacities and socioeconomic factors' into consideration when determining what constitutes an 'appropriate measure' to counter plastic waste. This is not the first time Seoul has aligned with Brazil in global plastic negotiations. A similar proposal was made during the first INC-5 meeting last year under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration. Local climate advocacy groups sharply criticized the Korean government's stance throughout talks held so far at INC-5.2. 'President Lee made de-plasticization one of his core pledges during his presidential campaign and even promised to come up with a roadmap by the end of this year to combat plastic waste. Introducing a watered-down language during the treaty talks goes directly against that commitment,' said Solutions for Our Climate through an official statement issued Friday. Claiming that a legitimate response to the climate crisis is 'fundamental reduction, the group added that 'managing or addressing plastic pollution is not enough.' 'Korea must step up and lead on real solutions, not backtrack,' the group added. In response to mounting criticism, the Ministry of Environment denied claims that Korea was attempting to block plastic reduction efforts. 'We're not opposed to the reduction of harmful plastics,' a ministry official told The Korea Herald. 'From our knowledge, several countries have expressed difficulty in accepting the proposal presented by Switzerland and Mexico in its current form. Korea's intention was to facilitate dialogue by introducing alternative language that could help break the deadlock.'
New Indian Express
8 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Plastics Treaty: Uproar over fossil fuel lobbyists in delegations
At least 19 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists have secured places in national delegations at the final round of global plastics treaty negotiations in Geneva, triggering outrage from civil society groups and raising serious concerns over the integrity of the talks. The revelation is part of a broader analysis by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), which identified a total of 234 fossil fuel and chemical lobbyists registered to participate in the fifth and final scheduled session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2). This is the highest industry presence recorded in the treaty process to date — and more than the entire delegation of the European Union and its 27 member states combined (233). The 19 lobbyists have been formally included in the delegations of Egypt (6), Kazakhstan (4), China (3), Iran (3), Chile (2), and the Dominican Republic (1). Their inclusion gives them access to closed-door discussions and potentially even a voice in defining national positions on the treaty —a situation civil society groups say amounts to a direct conflict of interest. 'The industry is not just observing — it is actively shaping the outcome,' said Rachel Radvany, CIEL's Environmental Health Campaigner. 'We've seen them speak in plenary, push their agenda publicly, and align with petrostate interests to weaken ambition.' The Plastics Treaty is intended to address plastic pollution across its full life cycle — from production to disposal — and many countries, scientists, and communities are pushing for binding caps on production and use of toxic additives. But with lobbyists embedded inside negotiating delegations, critics argue the process is at risk of being co-opted from within. When this reporter asked whether it should not be the responsibility of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to prevent industry representatives from entering national delegations, David Azoulay, Director of Environmental Health at CIEL, responded by pointing out a critical gap in global environmental governance.
New Indian Express
a day ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Global plastics treaty: First draft text by Friday, ‘scope' remains contentious in closed-door talks
A first consolidated draft text of the global plastics treaty is expected to emerge by Friday as the contact groups work around the clock to bridge entrenched differences. But behind closed doors, the definition of the treaty's 'scope' —particularly the interpretation of the 'full life cycle of plastics' — remains a flashpoint in negotiations, according to sources privy to Contact Group 1 (CG1) discussions. Speaking to this newspaper, on the sidelines of an informal meeting with Indian industry representatives on Wednesday, Ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso, Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), maintained a diplomatic stand when asked whether the definition of the full life cycle was being revisited amid mounting tensions. He replied: 'Negotiations are going. You have seen what's happening in the contact group... My job as Chair is to keep the negotiations on track... What the text will say on August 14 is up to the members.' The Chair said he had requested a compiled text by Friday to serve as a working draft, while maintaining momentum in the contact groups. 'We are still negotiating. The idea is to assemble a text with provisions that have a high level of convergence, while continuing informal work on the more difficult issues,' he said, emphasising that the treaty must be forward-looking, credible, and flexible. The stocktake, expected after the release of the draft, will help negotiators assess how far they have come and identify the remaining areas of divergence. The ambiguity over the scope of the treaty stems from a fundamental disagreement: what constitutes the full life cycle of plastics?
CTV News
3 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Nations gather in Geneva to again confront the world's spiraling plastic pollution crisis
Chair of the International Negotiating Committee Luis Vayas Valdivieso delivers his opening remarks, during the second part of the fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP) Nations kicked off a meeting on Tuesday to try to complete a landmark treaty aimed at ending the plastic pollution crisis that affects every ecosystem and person on the planet. It's the sixth time negotiators are meeting and they hope the last. A key split is whether the treaty should require cutting plastic production, with powerful oil-producing nations opposed; most plastic is made from fossil fuels. They say redesign, recycling and reuse can solve the problem, while other countries and some major companies say that's not enough. Luis Vayas Valdivieso, the chair of the negotiating committee that aims to develop a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, said: 'We are pretty sure nobody wants plastic pollution. Still, we have not been able to find a systematic and an effective way to stop it.' An opportunity to 'end plastic pollution' Vayas believes the 10-day gathering in Geneva can be groundbreaking. 'For the first time in history, the world is within our reach of a legally binding international instrument to end plastic pollution,' said Vayas, who is also Ecuador's ambassador to Britain. 'We are facing a global crisis. Plastic pollution is damaging ecosystems, polluting our oceans and rivers, threatening biodiversity, harming human health and unfairly impacting the most vulnerable. The urgency is real.' Only a treaty can mobilize the necessary global action, said Angelique Pouponneau, lead ocean negotiator for 39 small island and low-lying coastal developing states. At home in the Seychelles, Pouponneau said, plastic contaminates the fish they eat, piles up on beaches and chokes the ocean to undermine tourism and their way of life. 'It's the world's final opportunity to get this done and to get it done right,' she said. 'It would be a tragedy if we didn't live up to our mandate.' United Nations Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen said the issues are complex, but the crisis is 'really spiraling' and there's a narrow pathway to a treaty. She said many countries agree on redesigning plastic products to be recycled and improving waste management, for example. 'We need to get a solution to this problem. Everybody wants it. I've yet to meet somebody who is in favor of plastic pollution,' Andersen said. Between 19 million and 23 million tons of plastic waste leak into aquatic ecosystems annually, which could jump 50 per cent by 2040 without urgent action, according to the UN. Sharp disagreements on whether to limit plastic production In March 2022, 175 nations agreed to make the first legally binding treaty on plastics pollution by the end of 2024. It was to address the full life cycle of plastic, including production, design and disposal. Talks last year in South Korea were supposed to be the final round, but they adjourned in December at an impasse over cutting production. Every year, the world makes more than 400 million tons of new plastic, and that could grow by about 70 per cent by 2040 without policy changes. About 100 countries want to limit production as well as tackle cleanup and recycling. Many have said it's essential to address toxic chemicals. Panama led an effort in South Korea to address production in the treaty. Negotiator Debbra Cisneros said they'll do so again in Geneva because they strongly believe in addressing pollution at the source, not just through downstream measures like waste management. 'If we shy away from that ambition now, we risk adopting an agreement that is politically convenient, but environmentally speaking, is ineffective,' she said. About 300 businesses that are members of the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty — companies such as Walmart, the Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and L'Oréal — support reducing production along with increasing recycling and reuse. The coalition includes major food and beverage companies and retailers who want an effective, binding treaty with global rules to spare them the headaches of differing approaches in different countries. Some plastic-producing and oil and gas countries firmly oppose production limits. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of one common type of plastic, has led that group in asserting there should be no problem producing plastic if the world addresses plastic pollution. U.S. position on the treaty The U.S. doesn't support global production caps or bans on certain plastic products or chemical additives to them. The State Department says it supports provisions to improve waste collection and management, improve product design and drive recycling, reuse and other efforts to cut the plastic dumped into the environment. 'If the negotiations are to succeed, the agreement must be aimed at protecting the environment from plastic pollution, and the agreement should recognize the importance plastics play in our economies,' the State Department said in a statement to The Associated Press. That's similar to the views of the plastics industry, which says that a production cap could have unintended consequences, such as raising the cost of plastics, and that chemicals are best regulated elsewhere. China, the United States and Germany lead the global plastics trade by exports and imports, according to the Plastics Industry Association. How high will negotiators aim? For any proposal to make it into the treaty, every nation must agree. Some countries want to change the process so decisions may be made by a vote if necessary. India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and others have opposed that, arguing that consensus is vital to an effective treaty. Negotiators are discussing making some provisions opt-in or opt-out to avoid a stalemate. Bjorn Beeler, international coordinator for the International Pollutants Elimination Network, said that would mean a treaty without teeth or obligations, with little value. Cisneros said that if carefully crafted, it's an option to find some common ground. Tracey Campbell, an executive vice president at the plastics and chemicals company LyondellBasell and vice chair of the executive committee of the World Plastics Council, said she'll ask negotiators to 'find a way to agree on a few things and get started' and then build from there. She suggested tackling things like product redesign, recycled content mandates and financing waste collection, waste sorting and recycling technologies. In contrast, Greenpeace will be in Geneva calling for at least a 75 per cent reduction in plastic production by 2040. 'We will never recycle our way out of this problem,' said Graham Forbes, who leads the Greenpeace delegation. Thousands of people participating Delegates from most countries, the plastics industry and businesses that use plastics, environmentalists, scientists, Indigenous leaders and communities affected by plastic pollution are in Geneva. About 80 government ministers are attending talks that will last 10 days — the longest session yet, with adjournment scheduled for Aug. 14. Frankie Orona, executive director of the Texas-based Society of Native Nations, has been to every negotiating session. Indigenous land, water and air are being contaminated as fossil fuels are extracted and plastic is manufactured using hazardous chemicals, said Orona. 'We feel we absolutely have to be present to let them know, and see, who are the people that are really being impacted by the plastics crisis,' he said. Jennifer Mcdermott, The Associated Press
The Citizen
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
24 hours in pictures, 5 August 2025
24 hours in pictures, 5 August 2025 Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world. An indigenous woman participates in the encampment of the 4th March of Indigenous Women in Brasilia, Brazil, 04 August 2025. Picture: EPA/ANDRE BORGES People look at exhibits in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, USA, 04 August 2025. The museum has reopened exhibits following an extensive reconstruction. Picture: EPA/WILL OLIVER Eldorado Park community and various GBV groups protest outside Protea Magistrate's Court during the bail application of ex-police officer Mandla Buthelezi on August 05, 2025 in Soweto, South Africa. It is reported that Mandla Buthelezi is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Gauteng crime warden Chesnay Keppler. (Photo by Gallo Images/Fani Mahuntsi) Acrobatic artist Kate Ryan hula-hoops with multiple hoops early in the morning in Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square) in central Milan, on August 5, 2025. (Photo by Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP) People gather on the beach during a hot summer day in Rabat, Morocco, 04 August 2025. According to the Moroccan General Directorate of Meteorology, the agency issued an updated weather alert warning of extreme heat, local thunderstorms that may be accompanied by hail, and strong wind gusts, urging citizens to exercise caution and take necessary preventive measures. Picture: EPA/Jalal Morchidi A worker unloads eggs from a truck at a traditional market in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 05 August 2025. The Indonesian Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported that Indonesia's economic growth in the second quarter of 2025 reached 5.12 percent year-on-year (YoY), compared to 4.87 percent YoY in the previous quarter. Picture: EPA/HOTLI SIMANJUNTAK Tourists sit amidst pigeons, along a road in Srinagar on August 5, 2025. (Photo by Tauseef MUSTAFA / AFP) Police personnel sit at the flooded Namo ghat after heavy monsoon rains induced a rise in water level of River Ganges in Varanasi on August 5, 2025. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP) A pedestrian holds a bag over his head beside a bus stop in the Quarry Bay area of Hong Kong on August 5, 2025, amid a black rainstorm warning issued by the city's weather observatory. Parts of Hong Kong were brought to a standstill by flooding caused by heavy rains on August 5, after the highest-tier rainstorm warning was issued for the fourth time in eight days. (Photo by Tommy WANG / AFP) People gather in response to Greenpeace's call to support the Plastics Treaty, one day before the session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution, in front of the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, 04 August 2025. Negotiators will take part in the second segment of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution during talks in Geneva taking place from 05 to 14 August 2025. Picture: EPA/SALVATORE DI NOLFI Internally displaced Palestinians climb aid trucks to get food near a food distribution point in the Morag corridor, south of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, 04 August 2025. Picture: EPA/HAITHAM IMAD A fan stands in front of a mural by artist Paul Curtis, of Liverpool's late Portuguese striker Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva before the first of two pre season friendly football matches between Liverpool and Athletic Bilbao, near Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on August 4, 2025. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP) MORE PICTURES: Cosplay feast at Comic Con San Diego
