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Mail & Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- Mail & Guardian
UN plastics treaty talks collapse
The 'hard-fought' negotiations to develop a landmark United Nations treaty to end plastic pollution closed on Friday without agreement and have been extended again The 'hard-fought' negotiations to develop a landmark United Nations treaty to 'This has been a hard-fought 10 days against the backdrop of geopolitical complexities, economic challenges and multilateral strains,' 'However, one thing remains clear: despite these complexities, all countries want to remain at the table. While we did not land the treaty text we hoped for, we at Unep will continue the work against plastic pollution — pollution that is in our groundwater, in our soil, in our rivers, in our oceans and, yes, in our bodies.' South Africa's department of forestry, fisheries and the environment said the talks had collapsed because of 'deep divisions between nations and the absence of a clear process to resolve the deadlock'. 'South Africa is disappointed by the outcome and concerned about the procedural failings that stalled progress. But our resolve remains unshaken. While the lack of agreement is frustrating, South Africa will not waver in our fight to 'We will keep driving action at home and pressing for solutions abroad.' During the INC, George met South African industry, business, and civil society to strengthen partnerships for a circular economy. 'Collaboration with all stakeholders is vital. We must build a system where sustainable practices are the norm, not the exception,' the minister said. South Africa George warned about toxic chemicals in plastics and the spread of microplastics into food systems and human bodies. 'It is unacceptable that microplastics are found everywhere, including in our own bodies. We will act decisively to protect public health.' South Africa's Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations and the polluter pays principle are already holding producers to account for the full life cycle of their products. 'Our EPR framework is a cornerstone of our strategy, and we will keep strengthening it,' George said, adding that the country will keep working at home and with global partners to secure a meaningful, inclusive plastics treaty that protects our planet and future generations. In the final days of negotiations, the draft text of the treaty 'morphed into an appeal to corporate interests, with key elements like production reduction being gutted', noted In response, the majority of states effectively blocked what would have been a 'hollowed-out, ineffective and non-binding agreement', it said. 'As talks ended without a clear way forward, it is crucial to change the process to break the deadlock. We leave with disappointment yet determination for the fight against Pushing through a weak and destructive text, which was 'driven by corporate interests', would have presented no solutions to the plastics crisis, said 'The movement against plastics will continue to grow stronger, pushing for ambition at the local and national level in solidarity with and centring those most affected,' he said. 'From community-led zero waste initiatives to national campaigns for plastic bans, the pressure is mounting on governments to deliver the real solutions and a strong plastics treaty.' No treaty is better than a bad treaty, noted Ana Rocha, the global plastics policy director at the 'We stand with the ambitious majority who refused to back down and accept a treaty that disrespects the countries that are truly committed to this process and betrays our communities and our planet. 'Once again, negotiations collapsed, derailed by a chaotic and biased process that left even the most engaged countries struggling to be heard. A broken, non-transparent process will never deliver a just outcome. It's time to fix it, so people and the planet can finally have a fighting chance.' The majority of countries agreed on the need to cut plastic production, phase out harmful chemicals, ensure a just transition — particularly for wastepickers — establish a new dedicated fund to help developing countries implement the treaty, and make decisions through a two-thirds majority voting when consensus cannot be reached, among other ambitious measures. But this was derailed by a small group of petro-states calling themselves the 'Like-Minded Group', which includes Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iran, who ' Gaia said INC-5.2 had 'left ambitious countries lost in process' with surprising changes in schedule, 'blatant lack of transparency', overnight meetings starting as late as 2am, and a final plenary that started with 40 minute notice at 5.30 am — less than four hours after the chair's final draft was released and more than 14 hours after its scheduled time. 'Make no mistake, INC-5.2 has been an abject failure,' said the 'When faced with a failure of this magnitude, it's essential to learn from it. In the final days of the negotiations, we have clearly seen what many of us have known for some time — some countries did not come here to finalise a text, they came here to do the opposite: block any attempt at advancing a viable treaty. 'It's impossible to find a common ground between those who are France's ecology minister, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, expressed disappointment that a handful of countries, guided by short-term financial interests rather than the health of their populations and the sustainability of their economies, had blocked the adoption of an ambitious treaty against plastic pollution. 'Plastic kills. It poisons our oceans, our soils, and ultimately, it contaminates our bodies … Oil-producing countries chose to look the other way. We choose to act.' Graham Forbes, Greenpeace's head of delegation to the global plastics treaty negotiations, said the inability to reach an agreement in Geneva must be a wakeup call for the world. 'The vast majority of governments want a strong agreement, yet a handful of bad actors were allowed to use process to drive such ambition into the ground. We cannot continue to do the same thing and expect a different result.' The 'In Geneva, negotiators could not agree on key provisions essential to protecting the environment and human health, including effective obligations to reach sustainable levels of plastic production, address health, and account for impacts across the full life cycle of plastics,' it said. 'While a small group of countries actively denied the scientific evidence, we were encouraged by the overwhelming majority who engaged constructively with it. Our scientists thank them for their hard work and courage, and we remain committed to providing robust, independent science to support the next steps in the negotiations.' 'This was never going to be easy but the outcome we have today falls short of what our people, and the planet, need,' noted Surangel Whipps Jr, the president of Palau, speaking as the chair of The Alliance of Small Island States. 'Still, even after six rounds of negotiations, we will not walk away. The resilience of islanders has carried us through many storms, and we will persevere because we need real solutions, and we will carve pathways to deliver them for our people and our planet.' Azoulay said countries that want a treaty must now leave this process and form 'a treaty of the willing'. And that process must include options for voting that deny the tyranny of consensus we have watched play out here.' INC chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso said that 'failing to reach the goal we set for ourselves may bring sadness, even frustration. Yet it should not lead to discouragement. 'On the contrary, it should spur us to regain our energy, renew our commitments, and unite our aspirations. It has not happened yet in Geneva, but I have no doubt that the day will come when the international community will unite its will and join hands to protect our environment and safeguard the health of our people.' Kate Lynch, Australia's head of the circular economy division, department of climate change, energy, the environment and water, said: 'We must acknowledge that hard line positions will not allow us to move ahead. 'Characterising any of our discussions in terms of winners and losers only makes us all ultimately losers. We really need to embrace the constructive spirit that we've seen in so many discussions here and in previous INC sessions and take some brave decisions to
Mail & Guardian
13-07-2025
- Health
- Mail & Guardian
Climate crisis puts older adults at high risk from extreme heat, Unep warns
Older people face increasing health risks from extreme heat as climate change intensifies, the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has warned. (Envato Elements) Older people face In the latest edition of its The report highlights other effects of climate change, including the melting of glaciers that reawaken ancient pathogens and floods that risk releasing dangerous chemicals, as well as potential solutions to these emerging environmental issues. Older people are The global population aged 65 and older is projected to increase from 10% in 2024 to 16% by 2050, primarily in low and middle-income countries, the report notes. Concurrently, climate change is exacerbating risks such as The world is also becoming 'A rising number of cities will therefore soon face the new reality of increasingly ageing urban dwellers. Maintaining good health and vitality is crucial at any age and minimising risk factors for diseases become even more critical as we age,' the report said. 'In addition to the genetic, physiological, behavioural and social influences, environmental conditions play a crucial role, especially in cities that bring together a high concentration of a variety of environmental health risks.' The risks of respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and the increased risk of mortality, become particularly acute for frail people with reduced mobility and chronic health issues. Air pollution and chemical contamination increase the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, dementia, depression and anxiety. Poverty, crowded cities and social isolation also raise the vulnerability of older people. The report recommends transforming cities into age-friendly, pollution-free, resilient, accessible spaces with expansive vegetation through better urban planning. Investing in weather stations to monitor extreme heat is critical to protect lives while community-based disaster risk management and access to information are key approaches to help aging people adapt successfully to climate change, it said. The report follows the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution 58/13 to develop an 'international legally binding instrument on the human rights of older persons'. Zombie microbes It warns of the ' Should global temperatures rise more than 2˚C above pre-industrial levels, this would significantly reduce the cryosphere in mass, which includes glaciers, seasonal snow, ice sheets and shelves, sea ice, seasonally frozen ground, and permafrost. 'In a best-case scenario, it would take centuries for cryosphere conditions to return.' The cryosphere is surprisingly rich in ancient life, including fungi, bacteria, and viruses, of which some are pathogens. Much of this life is currently dormant. Warming could reactivate and remobilise modern and ancient microorganisms in cryospheric environments. 'Some might thrive, modifying existing microbial communities, while some might not survive resulting in a loss of microbial can enhance the powers of existing pathogens through natural gene transfers, resulting in heightened risk of antimicrobial resistance,' said the report. Cryospheric regions are home to 670 million people. This population could rise to 844 million by 2050, spanning the Alps, the Andes, Greenland, Hindu Kush Himalaya, Siberia, and the Tibetan Plateau as well as billions more who live in areas with water originating from those frozen areas. To slow down the decline of the cryosphere, the report recommends cutting greenhouse gas emissions — including black carbon emissions from diesel engines — open-field agricultural burning, and wildfires and limiting tourism in fragile frozen regions. Scientific research must also accelerate into the diversity of cryospheric microorganisms that will not survive the cryosphere's decline. Banned chemicals re-emerge Global climate change is contributing to longer, more severe, and more frequent floods. A flood can carry significant volumes of sediment and debris, the report said. Sediments and debris often include common inorganic When floods occur, these can re-enter cities or the food system. The persistent nature of these chemicals means even banned and phased-out chemicals can be remobilised. In recent years, extreme rainfall and subsequent flooding have demonstrated their ability to remobilise legacy pollutants accumulated in the environment. Extensive petroleum operations and incidences of oil spills in the Niger Delta of Nigeria over decades has led to severe contamination with ecological and human health consequences, the report said. A catastrophic flood event in the Niger Delta in 2012 mobilised sediments contaminated with After the worst flooding in more than 100 years The same flood also mobilised legacy radionuclides and heavy metal pollutants from former uranium-mining waste dumps and tailing ponds in the Elbe region. The Pakistan flood of 2010 inundated a fifth of the country's total land area. It, together with a series of smaller flash floods, swept away a significant but unknown portion of 2 835 metric tonnes of 'The release of these obsolete chemicals into the environment will likely cause further contamination in soils, water, and sediments, and the damage needs to be monitored and assessed,' the report said. Effective measures to reduce this imminent risk include traditional control measures like polders, dikes and retention basins, improved drainage systems, nature-based solutions like the sponge-city approach, regular monitoring of pollutants in diverse locations and products, and studying and tackling the economic impacts of this kind of pollution. The risk of ageing dams Another emerging threat the report addresses is the risk of ageing dams. It notes that alongside many benefits, dams can harm indigenous and fishing-dependent communities, as well as degrade ecosystems. There are about 62 000 large dams and millions of smaller barriers that exist worldwide, with expected effects on 90% of the world's river volume by 2030. Large ageing dams are increasingly being removed in Europe and North America, once they become unsafe, obsolete, or economically unviable. Greater natural river connectivity means healthier ecosystems and greater biodiversity, renewing species' access to tens or even hundreds of kilometres of upstream habitats. The report noted, however, that where urbanisation, industrial agriculture or deforestation are common, dam removal alone may not significantly improve a river's health. Large dam removals have the largest impact, though removing multiple small barriers may result in similar effects. Adhering to the UN's principles for ecosystem-restoration initiatives when considering the removal of river barriers is critical, the report said.
Daily Maverick
05-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Maverick
Ending plastic pollution is a human and planetary health imperative
An estimated 11 million tonnes of plastics leak into aquatic ecosystems each year, while around 13 million tonnes of plastics accumulate in the soil annually. When you woke up this morning, you did not breakfast on a plate of plastics, and rightly so. Your body is likely to have plastic in it anyway – microplastics, which have been found in the arteries, lungs, brains, placenta and breast milk of people across the world. We still do not know exactly what these microplastics do to our bodies, although new research is emerging all the time. We do know that we did not choose to ingest them. We do know that they do not belong there. And we do know that only ending plastic pollution will stop such plastics from accumulating inside of us. Plastics bring many benefits to humanity – in healthcare, in clean energy technology and much more. Plastic is a useful, durable material that has a role to play in societies and economies, including as we transition to a greener, safer world. The problem is that the way we produce, use and discard many plastics – particularly single-use and short-lived products used for convenience, not necessity – has swamped the world in pollution. An estimated 11 million tonnes of plastics leak into aquatic ecosystems each year, while around 13 million tonnes of plastics accumulate in the soil annually. This pollution gets everywhere – from the Mariana Trench, the deepest ocean point, to Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak – and breaks down into ever smaller particles, which sneak into our bodies through food, water and even air. The harm caused by plastic pollution on species, ecosystems and economies is well documented. The costs of plastic pollution could rise as high as a cumulative $281-trillion between 2016 and 2040. We are talking about lost income from tourism, beaches that need to be cleaned up, contaminated rivers, communities flooding as plastic waste clogs drains, fishing communities that are increasingly catching little more than plastic bottles and bags, and more. Ending plastic pollution is clearly a human health, planetary health, economic health and business health imperative. This is why, on World Environment Day, the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) and the host nation, the Republic of Korea, are mobilising communities across the globe to #BeatPlasticPollution. Make no mistake: the world is moving to end plastic pollution. More than 90 countries have put in place some form of restriction on single-use plastic bags. Circular economy An initiative by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Unep has committed more than 500 businesses, governments and organisations to creating a circular economy, in which plastics never become pollution. In 2022, at the UN Environment Assembly, the nations of the world kick-started negotiations on an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. Negotiators are now working hard to deliver a deal at the next round of negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, this August. But if we are to turn this global movement into a future free of plastic pollution, we need to apply a circular approach across the full lifecycle of plastics – ensuring that plastic stays in the economy, where it belongs, not in our oceans, our soils or our bodies. Recycling alone will not be enough. Only 21% of plastic today is economically recyclable, defined as when the value of recycled material is high enough to cover the cost of collecting, sorting and processing it. This is part of the reason why only nine percent of plastics are being recycled. We need a complete rethink of how we design, make, use and reuse plastics. Products should be designed to be used more than once and to be recycled at the end of their life. We need to think about shifting to refill systems, and more. The transition must be just: to protect the livelihoods of waste pickers and affected communities, and to find affordable alternatives for poor communities living day-to-day – people who can afford to purchase only small quantities of a particular product or rely on clean drinking water available in plastic sachets. There is work to do, but the rewards of ending plastic pollution will be plentiful: cleaner oceans and lands, healthier people and ecosystems, greater climate resilience, new job opportunities and stronger economies. Governments and businesses have a key leadership role to play, through investment and innovation in new approaches. But every one of us can make a difference. The choices we make can shape industries, shift markets and redefine our collective future. On World Environment Day, do whatever you can, wherever you can, to reduce plastic pollution and help carry everyone towards a cleaner, safer and more prosperous world. DM Inger Andersen is Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep).
Daily Express
05-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Express
Sabah's plastic predicament: A story of challenge, change
Published on: Monday, May 05, 2025 Published on: Mon, May 05, 2025 By: Alden Alex Raymond, Romandyus Michael Text Size: In Malaysia, the national context reveals the country's significant contribution to marine plastic pollution in Southeast Asia. Several factors, including rapid economic growth, urbanisation, and inadequate waste management infrastructure, are primarily responsible for the crisis. THE global plastic crisis looms large, casting a shadow over the world's ecosystems. Each year, millions of tonnes of plastic waste enter our oceans and landfills, creating a planetary emergency that affects every corner of the globe. This relentless tide of plastic is not only unsightly but also disrupts ecosystems, harms wildlife, and ultimately poses a threat to human health. Plastic production has increased exponentially, with projections indicating a continued rise in the coming decades, thus worsening the crisis. The plastic properties that make it so versatile and durable are its low cost, ease of manufacturing, and resistance to degradation, which also fuelled its overuse and improper disposal. This has created a legacy of environmental contamination that will persist for generations to come. International efforts, such as the UN Environment Programme's (Unep) initiatives and global agreements, aim to coordinate action and promote sustainable practices. However, significant challenges remain in implementation and enforcement, extending throughout Asia. Subscribe or LOG IN to access this article. Support Independant Journalism Subscribe to Daily Express Malaysia Access to DE E-Paper Access to DE E-Paper Exclusive News Exclusive News Invites to special events Invites to special events Giveaways & Rewards 1-Year Most Popular (Income Tax Deductible) Explore Plans Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
