On the final day of negotiations in Ottawa to establish the terms of a global treaty to end plastic pollution, major disputes between countries over the inclusion of a production cap continue to jeopardize the outcome of a treaty.
According to information from Duty, several points of contention persisted late Monday afternoon, an hour before the last plenary meeting was due to take place. Among them: whether a cap on production will remain on the table and whether the president will be given the mandate to begin drafting the treaty.
“At this moment, we are a little uncertain as to how the conference will really be finalized,” explains Patrick Bonin, head of the Climate-Energy campaign at Greenpeace Canada.
Ottawa has been hosting a plastic summit since last week, bringing together more than 175 countries to negotiate the terms of the next major legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, which must be adopted at the end of the year.
The adoption of a cap on plastic production limits continues to divide delegations at the negotiating table. Capping production is among the most ambitious measures envisaged.
Countries like China and India are particularly emphasizing the recycling of plastic rather than reducing its production. Last November, talks reached an impasse during a round of negotiations in Nairobi, Kenya.
“We need Canada’s leadership”
For Patrick Bonin, the absence of a consensus between countries remains “a possibility at this stage”. On Sunday evening, Rwanda and Peru tabled a proposal essentially calling for reducing the countries’ overproduction of plastic, he explains.
Several countries supported the proposal, while Canada and other countries abstained from taking a position.
“It’s disappointing because we need leadership from Canada, which is the host of the conference and which must send a clear message that it is in favor of a reduction in production,” insists Mr. Bonin.
Canada, however, does not fully support limiting plastic production. In interview at Duty last week, the federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, affirmed that he does not believe that the treaty must necessarily include such a ceiling. He believes that a precise and legal cap on the quantity of plastic produced in the world is probably too complicated to implement.
At a press briefing, Parliamentary Secretary of Environment Canada Julie Dabrusin also avoided commenting on the imposition of a ceiling. “We think it’s important to continue conversations about the entire life cycle of plastics,” she said Monday afternoon at the Shaw Center in Ottawa, where the conference is being held.
She also did not wish to comment on the progress of the text of the treaty. Minister Guilbeault was aiming for a 70% reduction in view of the fifth and final round of negotiations, scheduled in South Korea in November.
Thousands of people attended the Ottawa negotiations, including hundreds of lobbyists representing the fossil fuel and chemical industries.