A global treaty to end plastic waste must include a cap on plastic production, Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Tuesday as the fourth round of negotiations began in Ottawa.
Scientific evidence shows that the only way to keep plastic out of the environment is to reduce its production, environmental groups say. One of them, Greenpeace, wants the agreement to provide for a 75% reduction in plastic production by 2040.
Companies that make plastic say the restrictions are unnecessary because alternatives are often more expensive and more energy-intensive.
This issue monopolized discussions during the third round of treaty negotiations in Kenya last fall.
Mr. Guilbeault had been reluctant to take a specific position on production caps, fearing he would derail the Ottawa talks before they began. On Tuesday, those concerns appeared to be alleviated.
“Frankly, what I heard over the last two days of ministerial round tables is that people don’t just want an agreement, they want an ambitious agreement,” said Mr. Guilbeault.
Canada is part of an international coalition that agrees. Earlier this month, it determined that ending plastic waste would require putting in place legally binding rules “to limit and reduce the consumption and production of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels.”
The negotiations in Ottawa are the fourth of five planned rounds aimed at putting in place a treaty by the end of the year that would eliminate plastic waste by 2040. It is estimated that more than 350 million tonnes of plastic are thrown away every year. More than a fifth ends up in the wild, where it is harmful to humans and all forms of life.
The Ocean Conservancy, a US-based organization, reports that 11 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans each year.
Several options
The current text of the treaty, developed during the third round of negotiations in Kenya last fall, includes a section with several options on how to manage production.
One of them — similar to the Paris climate agreement on greenhouse gas emissions — would see each country set national targets to reduce their plastic production. Another suggests that production should not be restricted at all as long as waste can be managed.
Sarah King, plastics and oceans campaigner at Greenpeace Canada, agrees that a strong deal on capping production is unlikely to be reached in Ottawa.
She hopes the parties will agree to have formal discussions between the Ottawa event and the fifth negotiating session in South Korea in November.
“We just want to make sure that reduction remains an option,” she said. Canada, as host country, must show more leadership on the subject, she added.
“We need Canada to champion the boldest measures, including reducing plastic production and ensuring that reuse and reduction targets remain in this text. »
Steven Guilbeault has previously mentioned that he would like to have about 70% of the treaty text finalized by the end of negotiations in Ottawa next week.
The Quebec MP is the host minister of the talks, but he is not leading the negotiations. That task falls to Luis Vayas Valdivieso, an Ecuadorian diplomat who was chosen last fall to chair treaty discussions in Ottawa.
He said Tuesday he wants negotiators to approach the task at hand with optimism, responsibility and integrity, based on science.
“We are at a crucial moment in our process,” he said. We know there are difficulties, but I am confident that we can achieve common understandings and identify areas of convergence. »