Geneva, Switzerland, (EFE) – The new draft of the treaty aimed at combating plastic pollution sparked criticism by several delegations and civil society organizations as it omits limitations on plastic production and the regulation of chemicals in plastic products.
The text assembled by negotiation chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso sparked widespread rejection from negotiating delegations, including those from Latin America, Asia, Africa, the European Union, and island states.
Among the criticisms voiced by opponents are that the text does not define “plastic” or “plastic pollution,” nor does it include the words chemicals, emissions, climate, fossil fuels, or single-use plastics.
Latin American countries led the rejection of the text, with Colombia, Chile, Panama, and Mexico calling it “unacceptable.”
“We cannot take this text as the basis of negotiations. Our red lines, and the red lines of the majority of countries represented in this room, were not only expunged, they were spat on, and they were burned,” Panama delegate Juan Carlos Monterrey told the chair to rousing applause from the room.
The Kenyan delegation also voiced its discontent, saying the text “does not have any demonstrable value to end plastic pollution.”
Other countries pointed out that the new version, presented thirty hours before the end of the negotiations, erased the progress made in the last three years, adding that it did not establish obligations, leaving everything to the will of the parties.
The proposal also weakens the future decision-making mechanism for the treaty, which allows this type of agreement to evolve and adapt to future technological and scientific advances.
NGOs participating as observers in these negotiations also criticized the text.
“The new chair’s text makes a mockery of a three-year-long consultative process that showed broad support for an ambitious plastics treaty that addresses the full life cycle of plastics, including production,” said David Azoulay, head of delegation for the Center for International Environmental Law.
“It gives in to petrostate and industry demands with weak, voluntary measures that guarantee we continue to produce plastic at increasing levels indefinitely, fail to safeguard human health, endanger the environment, and damn future generations,” he added.
Graham Forbes, Greenpeace’s head of delegation, said: “The Chair’s new text is a gift to the petrochemical industry and a betrayal of humanity. This text glorifies recycling while ignoring the need to cut plastic production.”
“Fossil fuel and petrochemical lobbyists are pushing their agenda while oceans choke and children ingest microplastics. Ministers must reject this weak text and uphold the promise of a truly global treaty.”. EFE
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