Waste and the environment
Appearance failed: for the time being, no plastic waste agreement
Also round-the-clock negotiations were not able to change it: the trenches between ambitious countries such as Germany and the oil conveyor countries are too deep.
The planned global contract against the world’s plastic pollution failed for the time being. Nobody wanted to speak of a pile of broken glass in the early morning hours in Geneva, but what the diplomats from a good 180 countries have brought about in a good ten days is poor.
But it should go on. “This 5th session will be postponed and continued at a later date,” said the conference chairman after a negotiating marathon through all night on Friday morning. He did not name a date.
“The world urgently needs an agreement,” said EU environmental commissioner Jessika Roswall, who had previously expressed her disappointment with the result. Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in the Federal Environment Ministry, said: “I would have liked more, and more would have been possible. The different interests are still far apart.” But it is worth negotiating. However, the round of negotiations in Geneva is over.
Among other things, there was a dispute over whether and how plastic production should be limited to a sustainable level and how countries in the global south should be financially supported in order to implement recycling solutions.
Germany is the largest plastic producer in Europe. According to the Federal Ministry of the Environment, the plastic waste collected are almost completely used, either as a raw material for new products or for energy production. According to the Federal Office for Statistics, a good 694,000 tons of plastic waste were still exported in 2023, and eight percent less than in the previous year.
What plastic does with ecosystems and people
Plastic flashes and the environment and poisoned ecosystems, kills fish and other living things and endangers human health. The smallest particles are increasingly found in organs and also in the brain. According to studies, the nano and microplasty particles affect the immune system, among other things, can settle in arteries and promote inflammation.
Environmental organizations: better none than a bad agreement
Florian Titze from the environmental foundation WWF said: “In this case, no agreement is better than one that cemented the status quo at the UN level instead of being a real solution to the plastic crisis”. The environmental organization Greenpeace is similar: “The top priority must be an effective solution to the crisis,” said Moritz Jäger-Roschko, plastic expert from Greenpeace. “Not a lazy compromise that cemented the status quo and allows fossil industry to keep cash on cash by flooding the world with garbage.”
Closing criticism also existed in the conference management. Representatives of several delegations said that new impulses are needed. The chairman, Luis Vayas Valdivieso from Ecuador, had only submitted his own draft contract on the previous day, which was, however, rejected by practically all delegations. Ambitious countries were shocked that practically all ambitious goals no longer met. A new paper, which he then presented at night, changed little.
The opposition of the oil countries
“A solution is consistently blocked by the oil and gas industry,” said Jäger-Roschko. Oil production countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia provide the raw material for plastic, the oil. For them, every one was only mentioned mentioned in a reduction in production. They like to paint the scenario of a ban on plastic on the wall, although nobody had proposed that. “Take a look around: If everything in the room is removed from plastic, most people here are practically naked on the floor,” said a delegate.
“We like plastic, it is a great product, and we will continue to need it,” said EU Commissioner Roswall in Geneva this week. “But we don’t like plastic pollution.”
According to a count of the Organization Center for International Environmental Law – Center for International Environmental Law (Ciel) – 234 lobbyists from the petrochemical industry were part of the negotiations, partly as members of the delegations, partly as observers. That was more than the members of the diplomatic delegations of the 27 EU countries together.
The ambitious countries
On the other hand, there are more than 100 countries with particularly ambitious destinations. This includes Germany, the EU and dozens of countries in South America, Africa and Asia. They want to pull disposable plastic such as cups or cutlery, promote plastic products for multiple use and a circular economy in which the raw materials of a product are prepared and used again.
The contract should be legally binding according to the mandate that the UN countries had given in 2022 and encompassed the entire life cycle of the plastic, from production to design to disposal.
There are many numbers for pollution from plastic. The following come from the German Ministry of the Environment: From the 1970s to 2020, plastic production has sifted to 367 million tons a year and could reach almost 600 million tons a year without measures. According to the information, disposable products, including packaging, make up a large part. A total of 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been produced so far and have become 6.3 billion tons of waste, which largely landed on landfills. According to estimates, 152 million tons of plastic waste have accumulated in rivers and oceans.
dpa
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
