GENEVA
Countries on Saturday elected Chile’s COP climate summit chief negotiator to revive stalled talks on striking a landmark global treaty tackling the scourge of plastic pollution.
“Plastic pollution is a planetary problem that affects everyone: every country, every community and every individual,” career diplomat Julio Cordano warned after being elected. “If we don’t take concerted action, it will get much worse in the coming decades. A treaty is urgently needed.”
More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, with half for single-use items.
The plastic pollution problem is so ubiquitous that microplastics have been found on the highest mountain peaks and in the oceans’ deepest trench.
Supposedly final talks in South Korea in 2024 ended without a deal — and a resumed effort in Geneva last August likewise collapsed in overtime. Talks chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso then quit in October.
The process has been seeking consensus — which has proved impossible to find, with tiny island states drowning in foreign marine plastic and oil-producing countries pulling in opposite directions.A large bloc of states wants bold action such as curbing plastic production, while the smaller clutch of oil-producing states wants to focus more narrowly on waste management. Cordano said the talks needed a rejigged and more efficient way of working, calling for “flexibility and pragmatism”.
