Nations start negotiations over global plastics treaty
Nations grappling with the plastic "suffocating" nature and leaching into food and the human body began fresh negotiations on Monday toward a UN treaty to tackle the growing problem. Some 175 countries agreed last year to conclude by 2024 a binding agreement to combat the plastic pollution littering oceans, mountain tops, and even blood and breast milk. Negotiators have met twice already but the week-long talks in Kenya are the first to consider the concrete details of the treaty, and tensions have emerged over what it should contain. At the opening of the high-stakes talks at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, nations were urged to find common ground for the sake of the planet. "Nature is suffocating, gasping for breath. All ecosystems... are under threat from plastic pollution," said Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, executive secretary of the treaty negotiating committee. "We hold in our hands the power to correct this destructive course." Ahead of the talks, 60 so-called "high ambition" nations called for binding rules to reduce the use and production of plastic, which is made from fossil fuels, a measure supported by many environment groups. It is one of the many options proposed in a treaty draft published in September that is driving the deliberations in Nairobi. More than 2,000 delegates are attending, including representatives from oil and gas companies, environment lobbies and civil society groups. The gathering comes just before crucial climate talks in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates later this month that are set to be dominated by debates over the future of fossil fuels. Countries with large petrochemical industries have generally preferred to focus on recycling and better waste management rather than the caps on new plastic or product bans demanded by some parties to the talks. (AFP)