“The solution lies upstream in the life cycle of plastic, that is to say in production and consumption,” insists Sabine Roux de Bézieux as 170 countries meet this week in Kenya to develop a treaty to put end this pollution.
“Since the 1960s, the world population has doubled and plastic consumption has increased 40-fold”, is alarmed Monday, November 13 on France Inter Sabine Roux de Bézieux, president of the Fondation de la Mer, as negotiations open for a binding global treaty to put an end to plastic pollution. Representatives from more than 170 countries, including France, will meet until Sunday, November 19 in Nairobi (Kenya), at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Program.
Today, plastic consumption around the world is reaching new heights. “We consume 60 kilos per year per inhabitant”, recalls Sabine Roux de Bézieux, who points out the high weight of Europeans in the balance. They use 120 kg of plastic each year, and per capita, when the Americans, who have “founded their way of life” above, consume 240, i.e. “four times more than the average inhabitant of the planet”underlines the president of the Fondation de la Mer.
“If we do not stop this insane curve, the OECD forecasts [Organisation de C oopération et de Développement Économiques] tell us that in 2050, we will produce 1.2 billion tonnes of plastic per year”, alerts Sabine Roux de Bézieux. The president of the Fondation de la Mer specifies that this plastic, “we pretty much know [le] recycle in Europe”but that at “globally, we recycle 9% of plastic production”, For “22% who end up in nature”.
Fight for a binding treaty
This third session of international discussions around plastic aims to “get to the heart of the subject, plastic in its entire life cycle, from its production to the management of its end of life, to fight against pollution”, declares Sabine Roux de Bézieux. The president of the Fondation de la Mer believes that today, “the solution lies upstream of the plastic life cycle, that is to say in production and consumption”.
The challenge of this international summit will be to convince countries reluctant to accept limitations, such as Saudi Arabia, “producing country which had largely participated in the blocking of discussions in June”, points out Sabine Roux de Bézieux. At this moment, “we were all very worried because the negotiations were slipping for days and days, but when we saw the zero version of the draft treaty, we were reassured”says the president of the Fondation de la Mer.
She assures that “France is one of the countries which joined a high-ambition coalition, launched by Rwanda, which was one of the first countries in the world to ban plastic bags 5 years ago” [comme le Kenya]. “The ambition is very high,” And “all the NGOs and foundations, we are fighting for this”, so that the treaty is “restrictive”, said Sabine Roux de Bézieux, otherwise, “we will continue to have pollution everywhere in our oceans”.