Geneva Faces Growing Concerns Over Rising Pollution

Starting Tuesday, over 190 countries will convene in Geneva, Switzerland, for the second session of the fifth meeting of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5). The goal is to break the deadlock and reach an agreement within the next two weeks on the world’s first-ever Global Plastics Treaty. This treaty aims to establish a legally binding framework to end plastic pollution, including in marine environments, addressing the entire lifecycle of plastics from production to waste management and recycling.

The negotiations follow a previous meeting held in Busan, South Korea, last December, which ended without resolution due to disagreements over key issues. These disagreements focused on provisions in the draft treaty regarding capping polymer production, eliminating harmful chemicals from plastics, and phasing out problematic plastic products. According to the Center for International Environmental Law, the Busan draft contained 370 unresolved “brackets,” signaling areas of no consensus between countries.

The treaty process began with a 2022 resolution adopted at the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, setting the ambitious goal of developing global rules to end plastic pollution by the end of 2024. If successfully adopted, this treaty would be the most impactful environmental agreement since the 2015 Paris climate accord.

The urgency of the talks is underscored by a recent Lancet report highlighting the severe health impacts of plastics, stating that plastic pollution causes disease and death across all ages and results in health-related economic losses exceeding $1.5 trillion annually. Civil society groups and environmental campaigners view this treaty negotiation as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tackle plastic pollution, urging nations to commit to significant reductions in plastic production.

During the Busan talks, countries split into two main camps: oil-rich nations, which oppose any limits on plastic production, and “high ambition” countries such as Rwanda, Peru, and Mexico, which advocate for caps on production. Oil-rich countries argue that production cuts go beyond the mandate of the 2022 UN resolution and raise concerns about trade and economic impacts. India has taken a stance advocating for consensus in treaty finalization and opposes restrictions on primary polymer production, focusing instead on reducing plastic pollution through other means.

Experts expect the negotiations in Geneva to focus on resolving these past differences. Several countries have worked during the intersessional period to develop proposals based on the chair’s text, addressing key articles about production caps, bans on problematic plastics and hazardous chemicals, and product design regulations. These proposals are likely to be tabled in the coming days.

India’s position, as explained by Siddharth Ghanshyam Singh of the Centre for Science and Environment, is open to engagement on most issues but maintains clear reservations regarding production limits and trade barriers.

The backdrop to these negotiations is the rapid and alarming increase in global plastic production and waste. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), annual plastic production doubled from 234 million tonnes in 2000 to 460 million tonnes in 2019. Plastic waste has similarly more than doubled, from 156 million tonnes in 2000 to 353 million tonnes in 2019. The United Nations Environment Programme projects that, under a business-as-usual scenario, plastic production could triple by 2060.

In summary, the Geneva meeting represents a critical opportunity for the global community to finalize a landmark treaty that would set binding measures to curb plastic pollution worldwide, a pressing environmental and health crisis driven by ever-increasing plastic production and waste. The outcome hinges on bridging divides between countries with competing economic interests and environmental ambitions, aiming to deliver a global solution by 2024.