China, the world’s largest plastic producer, and Indonesia, one of the biggest plastic polluters, have been ramping up efforts for a more ambitious text for a treaty that could be on the brink of collapse as it closes on Thursday evening.
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184 nations gathered in Geneva remain deadlocked over basic definitions, the scope of the treaty and whether to limit plastic production at all.
In the past two weeks of hard-fought negotiations, China has provided textual proposals for Article 7 on leakages, “mentioning that we need to look at pollution and [plastic] leakages across the entire manufacturing of products”, said Juan Carlos Monterrey-Gomez, special representative for climate change of Panama, in a press briefing on Monday.
Indonesia proposed a revised text related to production cuts in Article 6, he added.
Article 6 seeks to establish an aspirational global target potentially outlined in an annex to help maintain or reduce plastic production to sustainable levels. Article 7 includes measures to prevent and reduce emissions and leakages such as from microplastics, fishing gear and plastic pellets, but remains bracketed in key sections and uses language that offers states considerable interpretive space.
Observers gather to hear an update from the INC Chair on the status of negotiations on 12 August. Image: Kiara Worth/ IISD-ENB
“[China and Indonesia] have advanced a little bit all their positions. They didn’t do that a few months ago, but they are doing it here. They have understood the economic case [of cutting plastic production] and they can see it is in their best interest to have a level playing field and global standards,” said Monterrey-Gomez.
Hanif Faisol Nurofiq, Indonesian minister of environment, makes a proposal on the plastics treaty on 12 August. Image: Kiara Worth/ IISD-ENB
The position of both plastic-producing countries has been cautious in previous treaty negotiations, unlike petrochemical states Saudi Arabia, Russia, Malaysia, Iran, and the United States. Known as the like-minded group, they have outrightly rejected binding commitments to reduce or cap plastic production, arguing that such measures would threaten their economies.
Apart from China and Indonesia, David Azoulay, director of environment health at Geneva-based environmental non-profit Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), also cited South Africa, Japan, Latin American and Pacific Island countries as member states which have been “negotiating in good faith” in this round of talks.
“A number of countries have been stepping up, even if they may have not been showing this leadership before,” Azoulay said at the briefing. “The way it works in multilateralism is that one country carries the main load as far as it can, then passes it on to someone who comes in with fresh energy to carry it on.”
Weak text despite final push
Despite some countries stepping up, some member states and civil society have rejected the latest proposed text as an “unacceptable basis for further negotiations”.
The new text caters to petro-states and the fossil fuel industry instead of the vast majority of aligned countries, and most notably “excludes the article on reducing plastic production, flouting the treaty mandate to address the full life-cycle of plastic”, said non-profit Break Free From Plastic.
Panama’s Monterrey-Gomez said that the most important revisions submitted by the majority of countries were “spat on and burned.”
“This is not about closing a treaty at any cost. It is about closing a wound that we’re leaving open in people’s lungs, in our rivers, in our oceans. But the text presented here makes that wound fatal and we will not accept it. This is repulsive. It is not ambition, it is surrender, and we will not sell out future generations for a text as weak as this,” he said.
Protesters create a symbolic trail of black oil on the street and hang banners by the entrance of Palais des Nations, where the negotiations are being held. The action highlights attempts by fossil fuel lobbyists and oil-producing states to prevent countries from agreeing to cut plastic production as a core part of the treaty. Image: Samual Schalch/ Greenpeace
The deadlock pits a small group of leading petrochemical nations, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United States and their allies against more than 100 countries seeking mandatory production cuts for plastics, which are made from fossil fuels.
“No treaty is better than a bad treaty,” stated Thais Carvajal, representative of Alianza Basura Cero Ecuador. “If we come out of INC-5.2 without an agreed upon text, it means that ambitious member states stood up and refused to compromise to fossil fuel interests. If they take that brave step, civil society will have their backs.”
