Plastics treaty talks clash over production limits, slow progress

Busan, South Korea — Simmering tensions about the plastics treaty spilled into the open in a public session Nov. 27, with countries accusing each other of negotiating in bad faith and saying they were deeply concerned about the slow progress

The talks have seen countries spar for at least 18 months over whether the treaty should regulate chemicals used to make plastics, how to provide aid to poorer countries for better waste management and recycling, and whether to limit plastic production.

Now, with negotiations supposed to wrap up Dec. 1, diplomats meeting in Busan said they feared they weren't making enough progress to strike a deal, or that timing would force them to strike a weaker deal.

"I must be honest with you, progress has been too slow," Luis Vayas Valdivieso, the chair of the treaty's negotiating committee and an Ecuadorian diplomat, told the open session. "We need to speed up our work significantly."

One flashpoint in the talks has been between major oil producing countries who want to keep the treaty focused narrowly on waste management issues, vs. other nations that want a broader deal that tackles chemicals in plastics, human health impacts and limits or caps on plastic production.

In comments Nov. 27, a diplomat from Panama noted the fights over plastic production, saying that the U.N. resolution that launched the treaty process in 2022 does include space for limits because it called for regulating plastic along its entire life cycle.

"For our colleagues who argue that production is not part of the mandate, let me correct the record," the Panamanian negotiator said. "Production is part of the full life cycle of plastic.

"If we cannot agree on measures to reduce plastic production, a critical piece of this fight, let me ask this to my colleagues, can we at least agree to curb our dependence on single-use plastics?" he said.

Siding with Panama, a diplomat from Switzerland said a minority of countries are resisting attempts to compromise and move the treaty forward.

"We are frustrated and we are disappointed," the Swiss negotiator said. "We see that the vast majority of [nations are] engaged in a constructive way, but also we see that some are holding on to national positions, preserving them, and not engaging in constructive dialogue to find common ground."

But a Russian diplomat, joining with nations from the Middle East and India, said the talks should only focus on areas where all countries can agree. That would rule out production caps and chemicals used to make plastics.

"If we really want to conclude this negotiation process and get a really implementable agreement, if we are serious about this, then we must concentrate on provisions which are acceptable for all delegations," the Russian representative said.

At one point in the back-and-forth in the plenary, a representative from Iran shot back at other, unnamed nations that he said were accusing Iran of "dirty tactics."

"We are really ready for a sincere and positive and constructive engagement with others, but we do not want to be blamed for blocking negotiations through dirty tactics," the Iranian diplomat said.

The debates over production caps and chemical in plastics were also showing up in formal written proposals from countries.

A bloc of more than 40 African nations, for example, wrote that the first meeting of the treaty's implementation body, called a Conference of the Parties, should develop a plan to "reduce the production and consumption of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels."

As well, a coalition called the Pacific Small Island Developing States formally proposed that the treaty include a 40 percent reduction in primary plastic production by 2040, from a 2025 baseline.

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia submitted a brief detailing why it believed limits on the supply of plastic would hurt the economy and disrupt supply chains. Supply limits would also go beyond the 2022 mandate from the United Nations Environment Assembly that launched the treaty.

And a Brazilian diplomat, in an interview on the sidelines of a treaty event Nov. 27, said that he does not see enough support for caps in the treaty, at least not yet.

"I don't see the U.S. or China or Saudi Arabia or Russia accepting production caps," said Vice-Minister Adalberto Maluf, national secretary of Urban Environment and Environmental Quality. "If the big producers will not allow themselves to be restricted, why should we focus too much on that and not on solving the other issues which may be possible to deal with."

Environmental groups said the lack of progress was pointing to the need for drastic action.

"What was suspected over the last two-year treaty process became crystal clear today," said Erin Simon, vice president and head of plastic waste and business, World Wildlife Fund-U.S. "Not all countries are going to have the courage to finish this deal, but that can't stop us from delivering a treaty that will finally meet the scale of this crisis head on.

"The progressive majority now has a mandate: leave the laggards behind, speed up the development of the text, and utilize every tool available to get this job done," she said.

Similarly, Greenpeace said the stalling tactics of some nations risks a failed treaty.

"The intentionally stalled progress on both finance and upstream control measures means that unless something changes, [the talks] will almost certainly fail to produce a strong treaty," said Hirotaka Koike, senior political officer for Greenpeace Japan. "This evening's plenary was the latest indicator that absolute consensus is obstructing collective progress."