NAIROBI: A third round of United Nations negotiations to try to deliver the world's first treaty to control plastic pollution has drawn more than 500 proposals from governments, participants said on Sunday.
Negotiators, who spent a week meeting in the Kenyan capital at talks known as INC3, have until the end of next year to strike a deal for the control of plastics, which produce an estimated 400 million tonnes of waste every year.
The plastics industry, oil and petrochemical exporters, including Russia and Saudi Arabia, have said a global deal should promote recycling and re-use of plastic, but environmental campaigners and some governments say much less needs to be produced in the first place.
Environmental group Greenpeace said a successful deal would require the United States and the European Union to show greater leadership than they have so far.
"The hard truth is that INC3 has failed to deliver on its core objective: delivering a mandate to prepare a first draft of a treaty text," Graham Forbes, head of delegation for Greenpeace, said.
"This is not progress. This is chaos," he said referring to the number of submissions.
Two more rounds of talks will take place next year to try to finalise the deal. A proposal to hold an extra session before the next round in Canada, known as intersessional talks, failed to advance in the final plenary meeting, participants said.
Bethanie Carney Almroth, an eco-toxicologist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, who was involved in the talks, said the world was confronting a huge challenge.
"Plastics are connected to climate change, to biodiversity loss and other major threats and crises that we as the human population are facing on the planet," she said.
There was no immediate comment from the United Nations.
LESS THAN 10% OF PLASTIC WASTE RECYCLED
Stewart Harris, a spokesman for the International Council of Chemicals Association, an industry body that favours measures like re-using plastic containers as opposed to production curbs, said the Nairobi talks had delivered good ideas.
A proposal by Switzerland and Uruguay to hold more discussions on curbing harmful polymers and chemicals of concern garnered support from more than 100 members states.
But some participants were disappointed by what they called the lack of a clear path towards an effective deal.
"Major fossil fuel producers and exporters stalled efforts to move forward in an efficient manner," said Tadesse Amera, co-chair of the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), a global network of non-governmental organisations.
Less than 10% of plastic waste is recycled, the U.N. Environment Programme says, while at least 14 million tonnes end up in oceans every year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature says.
Canada, Kenya, and the European Union were among those who said plastic production needed to be limited, while a coalition of Russia, Saudi Arabia and others has sought to emphasise recycling.
Members of the Saudi delegation at the talks declined to talk to Reuters, while Russian delegates could not immediately be reached for comment.
Reuters
Mon Nov 20 2023
Less than 10% of plastic waste is recycled, the UN Environment Programme says, while at least 14 million tonnes end up in oceans every year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature says. - REUTERS/Filepic
AWANI Ringkas: GISB Holdings | Kes tembakan di Song | PR1MA
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Lelaki rugi RM224,000 terperdaya skim pelaburan tidak wujud
Seorang lelaki warga tempatan berputih mata apabila kerugian RM224,000 setelah terperdaya dengan skim pelaburan tidak wujud yang diiklankan menerusi aplikasi Whastapp.
#AWANIRingkas 5 Oktober 2024 | 9 PM
Berikut merupakan rangkuman berita setakat 9 malam, 5 Oktober 2024
1️⃣ Siasatan membabitkan 10 peruntukan undang-undang
2️⃣ KDN sahkan seorang anggota polis terlibat
3️⃣ Projek sakit dijangka siap menjelang hujung 2024
#awaniringkas
1️⃣ Siasatan membabitkan 10 peruntukan undang-undang
2️⃣ KDN sahkan seorang anggota polis terlibat
3️⃣ Projek sakit dijangka siap menjelang hujung 2024
#awaniringkas
Serangan gajah: Perhilitan terus pantau Kampung Basung
Perhilitan Terengganu akan meneruskan pemantauan di Kampung Basung di Kuala Berang bagi mengesan gajah liar yang menyebabkan kematian warga emas hari ini.
Ekonomi penjagaan berpotensi hasil pendapatan baharu untuk negeri - Saarani
Kerajaan Perak melihat potensi ekonomi penjagaan sebagai satu daripada pendapatan baharu yang berdaya maju untuk negeri itu, kata Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad.
Polis tahan pegawai tentera kerana cabul kakitangan bawahan
Seorang pegawai tentera ditahan kerana disyaki mencabul kakitangan bawahannya sebanyak beberapa kali di sebuah premis kerajaan di Kok Lanas, Kota Bharu.
ATM lakukan siasatan penuh insiden di Wisma Transit
Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) melakukan siasatan penuh berkenaan insiden kekecohan yang berlaku di Wisma Transit, Kuala Lumpur membabitkan warga Palestin baru-baru ini.
JKNK akan dapatkan bantuan negeri lain jika berlaku banjir luar jangka
Jabatan Kesihatan Negeri Kelantan (JKNK) akan mendapatkan bantuan khidmat petugas Kementerian Kesihatan (KKM) dari negeri lain sekiranya mengalami banjir luar jangka tahun ini.
PR1MA: Projek sakit dijangka siap menjelang hujung tahun ini
Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan (KPKT) memberi jaminan projek Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) yang dikategorikan sebagai ‘projek sakit’ atau bermasalah di seluruh negara akan disiapkan menjelang hujung tahun ini.
John Legend sifatkan Siti Nurhaliza, Yura Yunita penyanyi hebat, teruja ditemani di konsert
John Legend teruja dengan kehadiran Siti dan Yura, dan akan menyampaikan lagu-lagu hitnya seperti All of Me, Ordinary People, dan Tonight.