A final week-long round of talks on a treaty to end plastic pollution has opened in Busan, South Korea, with deep differences between nations emerging almost immediately. The ‘high ambition coalition' – which includes France – will be fighting for a legally binding framework that will definitively curtail global plastic production.
The final round of negotiations by the UN committee aimed at addressing plastic pollution got underway this Monday in the South Korean city of Busan, with representatives from 175 countries.
Their talks over the next week will focus on the urgent need to combat the escalating dangers posed by plastic production.
The meeting opened not long after a chaotic end to the Cop29 climate talks in Baku, which agreed to a boost in climate funding that developing countries slammed as insufficient.
Plastic pollution is so ubiquitous that it has even been found in clouds, the deepest ocean trenches and even human breastmilk.
And while almost everyone agrees it is a problem, there is less consensus on how to solve it.
Threshold surpassed
Among the most contentious issues are whether the treaty should cap plastic production, a possible ban on chemicals feared toxic to human health, and how to pay for implementation.
Researchers have warned that the global threshold for plastic and chemical pollution was surpassed in 2022, already highlighting the urgency of the situation.
In Busan, delegates face the challenge of bridging two diverging viewpoints: on one side are nations advocating for strict measures to reduce plastic production, while the opposing faction – primarily composed of oil-producing countries – favours less stringent guidelines that allow for continued production growth.
High ambitions
The "high ambition coalition" – spearheaded by France, Norway, and Rwanda – is a collective of around 75 countries united in their goal to end plastic pollution by 2040.
The scope of the coalition has broadened over time and includes nations like Germany, Senegal, and Peru, with their agenda focusing on reducing problematic chemicals, promoting responsible plastic usage, and upholding the principle that polluters should bear the costs of their actions.
Conversely, oil-exporting countries view plastics as a promising investment avenue, particularly as the shift from fossil fuels to greener energy sources intensifies.
Global plastic production has surged to approximately 460 million tonnes – double the amount produced two decades ago – and is projected to triple by 2060 according to OECD forecasts.
Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, India, Iran, and Brazil heavily support the continued production of plastics, pitching their arguments around enhanced recycling and improving waste management instead of reducing manufacturing.
While countries advocating for reduced plastic production are facing significant lobbying efforts from oil-rich nations and petro-chemical industries.
They argue that efforts should centre on the entire lifecycle of plastics, including collection and recycling, rather than strictly on production limits.
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The '3Rs'
However, according to Sylvie Lemmet, France’s Ambassador for the Environment, the coalition is also focusing on the ‘3Rs’ – reduce, reuse, recycle – as essential steps in addressing the global plastic crisis.
Currently, a mere 9 percent of the plastics circulated globally are recycled, emphasising the need for systemic change in plastic waste management.
Philippe Bolo, a member of the French Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices, maintains that improving recycling technologies is insufficient without concurrently diminishing plastic output, saying: "Even in a country like France, where waste management is well established, we still come across issues of plastic-related pollution. So for countries that don't have the infrastructure we do, it's even more of a problem".
France, is especially lagging behind in the treatment of its plastic waste, having paid €1.5 billion in fines to the European Union in 2023 alone.
A key aim for France and its allies at the negotiations is to ensure any negotiated text explicitly calls for a reduction in plastic production.
Scientists in the French delegation are set to highlight that failing to address rising production levels jeopardises the planet’s ecosystems and human health.
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An end to 'virgin plastic' ?
At the recent Cop16 biodiversity conference in Colombia, French Minister for Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, underlined the gravity of the situation.
"If we do nothing, the use of plastic will triple by 2060," she said. "You don't need to have done a lot of scientific studies to understand that, even if we become champions of recycling and waste collection, we won't crack the plastic pollution problem if we don't reduce the use and production of virgin plastic".
As an agreement on plastic production enters its final round of negotiations in Busan, uncertainty looms.
A draft document circulated prior to this latest session disappointed the French delegation for its vague references to "sustainable production" instead of clear reduction targets.
France will be actively pushing for explicit language on production cuts, but the possibility of failing to reach an agreement remains if those "high ambition" commitments are not made.
