‘Privileged access’: pro-plastic lobbyists at UN pollution talks increase by a third

The sculpture Giant Plastic Tap, by the Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong, on display outside the Ottawa talks building. Photograph: Dave Chan/AFP/Getty Images

The number of fossil fuel and petrochemical industry lobbyists has increased by more than a third at UN talks to agree the first global treaty to cut plastic pollution, analysis shows.

Most plastic is made from fossil fuels via a chemical process known as cracking, and 196 lobbyists from both industries are at the UN talks in Ottawa, Canada, where countries are attempting to come to an agreement to curb plastic production as part of a treaty to cut global plastic waste, according to analysis by the Center for International Environmental Law (Ciel).