The fifth negotiating session for a global treaty against plastic pollution, the last according to the planned schedule, will be held in Busan, South Korea, from November 25 to December 1, 2024. Faced with constantly increasing plastic production and a insufficient recycling, states must overcome their differences to reach an ambitious and legally binding agreement, crucial to limiting the spread of plastic. Otherwise, other avenues could be considered according to the Tara Ocean Foundation.
From November 25 to December 1, 2024, the port city of Busan (South Korea) will host the fifth session of negotiations on plastic pollution which is being held under the auspices of the UN. With one objective: to achieve a legally binding international treaty against plastic pollution, in accordance with the resolution adopted in 2022 at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5).
Since the last session, which took place in April, one of the main objectives supported by Peru and Rwanda is to achieve a 40% reduction in plastic production by 2040. This figure, already ambitious in relation to the realities of the discussions, “ should be the minimum basis for negotiations”estimates Henri Bourgeois-Costa, head of public affairs at the Tara Océan Foundation during a press conference. “But we are quite far from it”he regrets.
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Two blocks oppose the reduction of plastic
“This new, and a priori last, negotiation session comes after four sessions marked by strong differences and the bad faith of certain actors”agrees Muriel Papin, general delegate of No Plastic In My Sea in a joint press release with the Surfrider Foundation and Zero Waste France.
Two blocs are in fact head-on in the negotiations. On the one hand, nations such as Russia, Iran, the Gulf countries, India and a few other countries favor recycling-oriented approaches and oppose direct limits on production, primarily for economic reasons. Plastic is seen by oil producers as a way out in the event of a transition away from fossil fuels. Opposite, a “high ambition” coalition, made up of around sixty countries co-chaired by Norway and Rwanda, and of which France is a member, is campaigning for strict restrictions on the production of virgin plastic and restrictive measures. covering the entire life cycle of plastics.
It is difficult in these conditions to reach a consensus on an ambitious text. But is it an end in itself? “Today, having a treaty that involves the Gulf countries or Iran is a treaty that would amount to only addressing the issue of plastics from the angle of waste, its collection and recycling.“, explains Henri Bourgeois Costa. “If the idea is to arrive at a text at all costs, in this case it is something that worries us”he notes. Instead, more ambitious multilateral agreements between countries could be put in place to reduce plastic production, said the foundation’s head of public affairs.
Despite everything, Tara Océan hopes that notable progress will emerge from the discussions, such as global quotas for the production of monomers, often toxic compounds used to form plastic, the establishment of an environmental tax on production or even the promotion of EPR (extended producer responsibility) sectors… In addition, the pure and simple reduction of “useless plastics”, for single use or for packaging for example, by alternative materials (paper, reusable glass cardboard, etc.), would make it possible to exceed this objective and achieve a 50% reduction in production by 50% in 2040 compared to the 2021 production level, estimates the foundation.
Growing pressure for strong measures
Global plastic production has more than doubled over the past two decades, reaching 460 million tonnes per year, and could triple by 2060 if no action is taken. As an OECD note points out, only 9% of plastic waste is actually recycled. Discussions are therefore crucial to establish an effective roadmap whose objective is to be implemented from 2025. Despite these numerous obstacles, the Tara Océan Foundation wishes to remain positive. “There is a shared global vision of the issues surrounding plastic which did not exist two and a half years ago before the launch of the negotiations […] and it is something completely new and unique, at least in such a short time, for an environmental treaty,” concludes Henri Bourgeois Costa.
South Korea, a far from exemplary host country
A few days before the negotiations, South Korea, host country of the session, is itself in the spotlight. According to a Greenpeace report published on November 20, 2024, it ranks among the world’s largest producers of plastic, with an annual capacity of nearly 20 million tonnes, generating significant CO₂ emissions. NGOs call on Seoul to play an exemplary role by adopting ambitious commitments.
