Negotiations on plastic pollution stall in Busan

(Keystone-ATS) Delegates from more than 170 countries have been meeting in South Korea since Monday, with the aim of agreeing on a text before December 1, after two years of negotiations.

But on Tuesday, work within the four “contact groups” responsible for drafting the terms of the future treaty got bogged down in discussions “going in circles”, declared Eirik Lindebjerg, responsible for plastics policy at the WWF organization.

Several diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity about these discussions closed to the public, confirmed this slowness. “It’s very, very slow, with the usual countries doing everything to slow down the process,” said a Latin American delegate.

Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran

Documents submitted to the contact groups make it clear that Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia want significant changes, including removing part of the treaty aimed at limiting the production of new plastics.

In one of these proposals, Saudi Arabia said any restrictions on production would go “beyond” the treaty’s objective of limiting plastic pollution and risk creating “economic disruption”.

Other diplomats and senior officials participating in the negotiations expressed growing frustration. “There is a difference between protecting one’s interests and deliberately hindering the progress of negotiations,” complained a delegate from a small island state.

The content of the discussions suggests a complicated end to the talks, to say the least, warned a European diplomat. “I think we will reach a very difficult situation in two days at the latest,” he predicted.

According to Mr. Lindebjerg, the WWF observer, the first two days of talks still resulted in some positive points, particularly with regard to proposals to limit “problematic” chemicals.