Author: Ivan Mawanda

Plastics treaty talks clash over production limits, slow progress  Steve Toloken  Busan, South Korea — Simmering tensions about the plastics treaty spilled into the open in a public session Nov. 27, with countries accusing each other of negotiating in bad faith and saying they were deeply concerned about the slow progress  The talks have seen countries spar for at least Read More …

SEOUL, Nov 27 (Reuters) – A fifth round of talks aimed at securing an international treaty to curb plastic pollution had seen slow progress as the halfway point approaches, delegates said on Wednesday, fuelling doubts that a deal can be reached by a Dec. 1 deadline.  South Korea is hosting the fifth and final U.N. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting Read More …

Ross Eisenberg, president of America’s Plastics Makers, a unit of the American Chemistry Council: “[the US proposal] would create a process to regulate chemicals via the plastics agreement using a global list of chemicals based on open-ended criteria and a vague decision-making process.” John Hocevar, oceans campaign director for Greenpeace USA: “We can’t make a whole lot of progress in Read More …

Criticism from both sides for US chemicals proposal at plastics treaty talks  Steve Toloken  Busan, South Korea — As the global plastics treaty talks race ahead in an attempt to finalize an agreement, the debate around how much any deal should limit both chemicals used in plastics and problematic plastic products has become one of the thornier unresolved issues.  A Read More …

Civil society issues letter to Developed Countries and supports G77+China in response to latest NCQG: Hi all Overnight in Baku, civil society organisations have hand-delivered two letters about the latest disgraceful draft text regarding the climate finance goal – one to the developed countries, calling them out, and one to the G77+China, supporting them in rejecting the current text. Please see the Read More …

“…China, which had been aligned with the oil producers, made it clear in writing that it wanted to use both the [non-]paper and the draft as the basis for negotiations. In particular, China has reportedly indicated that it is willing to accept the language in the [non-]paper on regulating the production of primary plastic polymers (plastic raw materials derived from Read More …

 Nations gathered in Busan, South Korea have a week to agree the world’s first treaty to curb plastic pollution, a gargantuan challenge given the major divisions that remain. Some countries want the treaty to mandate a reduction of new plastic production, and the phase-out of “unneccessary” items, such as some single-use plastics. They note many countries already limit items like Read More …