Deadline for plastic treaty nearing, new Busan draft shows sharp differences

With just two days before negotiators are due to agree on the world’s first deal to curb global plastic pollution, a new draft text released Friday showed deep differences remain.

Nearly 200 countries are gathered in South Korea’s Busan with the goal of cobbling together a deal by Sunday, capping two years of negotiations on a landmark agreement.

Just 48 hours before the talks are scheduled to end, a new synthesis text released by the diplomat chairing the process emerged, littered with competing visions and ongoing disagreements.

There are eight possible definitions for plastic alone, and five options for the meaning of plastic pollution.

No text at all is proposed on “chemicals of concern” that are known or believed to be harmful to human health, and an article on health remains virtually bare, along with an option for it to be scrapped altogether - a request made earlier by Saudi Arabia.

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The draft also suggests production remains a key sticking point. Many countries have rallied around a proposal led by Panama for nations to agree on a reduction target after the treaty is signed.

But the draft includes an option that would delete the article on supply entirely, a suggestion also previously made by Saudi Arabia.

The text suggests more convergence on the thorny issue of finance, with apparent agreement on linking the implementation of the deal to resources available to countries.

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However there is still disagreement on whether a separate fund should be established to support developing countries and how money might flow into it.

Diplomats emphasised the positive elements in the text.

“We have to compromise in order to reach a consensus,” said Panama’s Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, welcoming the inclusion of the language on plastic production, proposed by his country.

“Now the battle will be based on defending that article,” he told AFP. “We are not here to negotiate a greenwashing and recycling treaty”.

“It’s not perfect, but I think it could be a good base,” added a European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Environmental groups were more cautious, and warned the text was worrying.

“We are calling on countries to not accept the low level of ambition reflected in this draft,” said Eirik Lindebjerg, global plastic policy lead at WWF.

“It does not contain any specific upstream measures such as global bans on high-risk plastic products and chemicals of concern… without these measures the treaty will fail,” he said.

Greenpeace warned that any final treaty must include a target to reduce new plastic production, calling it a “red line for any country serious about ending plastic pollution”.

“This is the make or break aspect,” said the group’s Graham Forbes.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)