Draft treaty against plastic could come out in November – 02/06/2023 – Environment

A first version of the future global treaty against plastic pollution must be drafted by November, representatives of 175 countries, meeting in Paris, decided this Friday (2) after five days of difficult negotiations.

“The International Negotiating Committee [INC, na sigla em inglês] requests its President to prepare (…) a first draft of the legally binding international treaty” to be considered in November during the third meeting of this committee, in Nairobi, with the aim of reaching a final text by the end of 2024.

This is the resolution proposed after a last meeting led by Brazil and France, which was adopted in a plenary session this Friday at Unesco headquarters in the French capital.

The negotiators, meeting since Monday, did not address the central issues until Wednesday night, after two days of blockade by Brazil, China, India and the Gulf countries, on whether they should vote or not if there was no unanimity during the analysis of the project. Finally, it was decided to resolve this issue at a later date.

This is the second round of five negotiating sessions aimed at crafting a binding pact covering the entire plastic lifecycle, a sort of Paris Agreement on plastics.

The principle of this treaty, long awaited due to the growing magnitude of the plastic crisis, which adds to the climate and biodiversity crises, was decided in February 2022 in Nairobi, at the headquarters of UNEP (United Nations Environment Program).

Annual plastic production has doubled in the last 20 years, reaching a level of 460 million tons. By 2060, it could triple if left unchecked.

The countries must reach an agreement despite their divergent ambitions and the pressure exerted by NGOs and also by certain industries, supported by oil-producing countries.

After the next meeting in Kenya, negotiations will continue in April 2024 in Canada and conclude in South Korea in late 2024.