Talks on Global Plastic Treaty Begin in Canada

AFP/APP

Ottawa: Negotiators from 175 nations began talks Tuesday on a proposed global treaty to reduce plastic pollution, which is found everywhere from mountain tops to ocean depths, and in human blood and breast milk. 

“The world is counting on us to deliver a new treaty that will catalyze and guide the actions and international cooperation needed to deliver a future free of plastic pollution,” said Luis Valdivieso, chair of the negotiations at the UN-led talks in Ottawa, Canada.

“Let’s not fail,” Valdivieso added as he opened the session that will run to April 29.

Nations agreed in 2022 to finalize a world-first treaty by the end of 2024, with concrete measures to battle plastic pollution around the world. 

The meeting in Ottawa is considered crucial as it is the penultimate session before a final round of negotiations in South Korea later this year.

Plastics have created a reliance on disposable consumer culture, Canadian environment minister Steven Guilbeault said, adding: “We’re here today because we recognize that we must throw away this throwaway generation.”

“We must acknowledge that we can’t choose between recycling, banning or innovation. We have to do all three,” Guilbeault said.

In an interview with AFP ahead of the talks, Guilbeault said the goal was to achieve “60 to 70 percent of the elements endorsed” by delegates.