Countries discuss ‘Paris Agreement on plastic’ – 05/29/2023 – Environment

Delegates from around 175 countries are meeting at Unesco headquarters, in Paris, from this Monday (29) to next Friday (2) to negotiate a multilateral agreement on the reduction of plastic waste in the world.

The material is based on fossil fuels, has a production chain that involves some of the largest corporations in the world and is one of the biggest polluters on the planet, which creates a challenge of equally superlative proportions.

To get an idea, every year an amount of plastic waste is generated whose weight is equivalent to that of 35,000 Eiffel towers, or 350 million tons, according to data from the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).

This amount should triple by 2060 if the model and pace of production and consumption continue as they are today. In addition, according to UNEP (United Nations Environment Program), plastic contributes significantly to climate change on Earth.

It is therefore essential to discuss the meeting in the French capital, the second since the UN Environmental Assembly, the highest international body on these issues, created in 2022 an intergovernmental negotiating committee tasked with drawing up a legally binding text on plastic by 2024 —a sort of Paris Agreement on plastics.

The summit takes place at a time when countries such as France and Brazil are debating oil exploration and the future of the petrochemical industry in view of the prospects of companies in these sectors and the growing demands for changes in the countries’ energy matrix towards a cleaner economy.

The different national contexts and their interests involving the giants of these sectors point to the delicacy of the negotiations that will take place in the French capital in the coming days.

“If we do nothing, the generation of plastic waste will triple by 2060. Plastic pollution is therefore a time bomb and a scourge that is already present,” said French President Emmanuel Macron during the opening of the international meeting. .

The French leader called for “an end to a globalized and unsustainable model that consists of producing plastic in China or in OECD countries and then exporting it as waste to developing countries, which are less equipped with waste treatment systems” .

The problem, however, although less visible, is heavyweight. Today, 430 million cubic meters of plastic are produced annually in the world, according to data from the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).

Much of this plastic is short-lived material that soon becomes waste. And the share of this production destined for a single use before disposal is increasing.

But plastic is difficult to degrade and its residues, whether large or in microparticles, do not respect borders and spread across the seas, oceans and atmosphere, contaminating water, food and the air itself, regardless of who produced them and where.

As a result, the seas and oceans have been the hardest hit. And it is estimated that, at current rates, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans.

Even so, the repercussions more directly related to human health have gained ground in an attempt to sensitize people who believe they have nothing to do with fish, birds or turtles that died of suffocation when they swallowed discarded toothbrushes.

“The main objective [do acordo] must be to reduce the production of new plastics and ban the most polluting products as soon as possible, such as single-use plastics and those most dangerous to health,” Macron explained.

According to him, while today 15% of the plastic produced is recycled on a global scale, “100% of the plastics placed on the market tomorrow must be fully recyclable”, ending plastic pollution by 2040.

Whether this deadline is feasible and whether it is enough to stop the damage caused by the material to the environment, animals and humans in time is not known.

UNEP report, released 15 days ago, proposes systemic changes that attack the causes of plastic pollution. They would come from reducing the problematic and unnecessary use of plastic and transforming the market towards the so-called circular economy, in which waste from an industry is recycled or reused in itself or in other industries.

According to the document, this can be achieved through three changes: reuse, recycling, and the reorientation and diversification of materials.

Reuse opposes the so-called “throwaway economy” to introduce a more rational use of plastic. Recycling, already known, needs to become a more profitable enterprise, according to the report. And the reorientation and diversification points to the use of sustainable materials alternative to plastics, which will require, according to UNEP, “a change in consumer demand, regulatory structures and costs”.

The report was criticized by environmentalists who saw the focus on recycling as a concession to the polluting industry.

UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen told Reuters in response to the criticism that “we’re talking about redesign, and when we’re talking about redesign, it’s all we need to do to use less plastic.” “That’s where it all starts,” she said.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}