Talks between nations to hammer out a plastics treaty to end plastic pollution continued behind closed doors in Geneva on Thursday, the final day of negotiations, as civil society groups urged countries to \u201chold the line\u201d to secure a strong agreement.<\/p>\n
With time running out to seal a deal between 184 countries, environmental groups expressed concern that frontline communities, Indigenous people and others suffering the worst impacts of the world\u2019s growing plastic crisis were being \u201csold out\u201d in an effort to secure a treaty, without meaningful or legally binding measures that would address the scale of the problem, \u201cat any cost\u201d.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s negotiations towards a legally binding agreement to tackle plastic pollution are the latest in five rounds of talks over the past two and a half years, which have so far failed to produce a deal.<\/p>\n
Talks at the UN offices stalled on Wednesday<\/a> after a consensus draft treaty, presented by the chair of the event, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, was rejected by 80 countries. The ambitious countries \u2013 who want curbs on production \u2013 described it as \u201cunacceptable\u201d, a \u201clowest common denominator\u201d and a toothless waste management instrument, because it did not include production caps nor address the chemicals used in plastic products.<\/p>\n Countries from the \u201clike minded\u201d group, chiefly oil-producing countries and including Saudi Arabia, who want the treaty to focus on recycling and voluntary measures, said it crossed too many of their red lines and did not do enough to pare down the scope of the treaty.<\/p>\n Activists staged a protest on the last day of negotiations of the treaty at the UN offices in Geneva. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Graham Forbes, Greenpeace\u2019s head of delegation, said: \u201cThe entire day has been behind closed doors. All of civil society is on edge, waiting to see what the next move is going to be from the chair and from the secretariat. We are nervous, we are anticipating, and we\u2019re concerned that we\u2019re going to be sold out in an effort to get a treaty at any cost.<\/p>\n \u201cCivil society, frontline communities, Indigenous peoples, everyone is united in wanting to see something meaningful here. And we\u2019re praying that these governments are going to do the right thing and put our collective health before short term profits for the petrochemical sector.\u201d<\/p>\n A rush for a weak treaty in Geneva, Forbes said, \u201cwould be a disaster\u201d.<\/p>\n Some NGOs said they had \u201clost faith\u201d in a process with the need for consensus between a majority of countries that want production caps versus a small but powerful minority of oil- and plastic-producing nations that continue to reject production limits.<\/p>\n Christina Dixon, a campaign lead at the Environmental Investigation Agency, said the need for consensus was being \u201cweaponised\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of civil society have lost faith in the process, because we\u2019ve consistently seen a majority of countries aligning around a vision for the type of treaty that we\u2019d be happy with. Yet, because of the way that this is being weaponised, we\u2019re constantly bowing to a small but vocal minority who are holding it hostage,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n This system was allowing a majority of countries to be \u201cdrowned out\u201d, Dixon said. She urged: \u201cWhat we need to see tonight is that the views of that majority reflected fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The planet’s most important stories. Get all the week’s environment news – the good, the bad and the essential<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Benjamin Von Wong\u2019s artwork, The Thinker\u2019s Burden, was installed in front of the UN offices in Geneva during the talks. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Earlier on Thursday, Camila Zepeda, the director general for global affairs at Mexico\u2019s ministry of foreign affairs and a negotiator at the talks, said: \u201cIf [the next treaty draft] is exactly the status quo, then we\u2019ll need to assess if it\u2019s better to then keep working and trying to find a better environment for this topic, but it\u2019s too early to tell \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWe understand it will be a very simple treaty at this stage. But if the key components are there and we can build it in time, then we will be signing. By now, we\u2019ve given up bans, we\u2019ve given up production limits. We\u2019ve given up so much, so much.<\/p>\n \u201cAs ambitious countries, we want an outcome, and we see that if we don\u2019t get an outcome, we\u2019re risking a lot. But at the same time, we won\u2019t take just anything.\u201d<\/p>\n