The world is racing against time to achieve a goal global agreement against plastic pollution. This week Nairobi is hosting the UN convention, where more than a hundred countries are trying to outline a binding agreement. Peruvian Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, chairman of the negotiating committee, recalled: Only one year left until the agreement is signed. Currently, the outcome is uncertain due to opposing attitudes of different nations.
“The main goal will be to have a clear mandate to be able to prepare the revised text (of the agreement) to move forward,” Meza-Cuadra told a news conference at the UN complex in Nairobi.
Meza-Cuadra made these statements at the beginning of the third meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-3) to develop this agreement, which will be held in the Kenyan capital until next Sunday.
Peruvian diplomat INC. Has “until the end of 2024” to agree on a consensual text He admitted that it was a “short” period as he only stayed for a year.
“Compelling. We have two more INC (Committee meetings). But it is possible. We believe it is possible to achieve this global agreementIn the statements collected by Efe, Meza-Cuadra was emphasized.
“That’s why we’re working hard to achieve a successful INC-3,” the committee chair said, acknowledging that “some areas are less controversial than others.”
“Waste management is really an area where everyone agrees that we need to (implement) very strong measures,” the diplomat emphasized.
First summit with draft in hand
The INC was the historic outcome of the V UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) held in Nairobi in March 2022; 175 countries have agreed to launch this initiative.
Since then the Committee has held its previous meetings between 28 November and 2 December of that year in Punta del Este (Uruguay) and between 29 May and 2 June in Paris.
While some countries do not want to give up the plastic business, others want strict and immediate limits on plastic production.
The Nairobi tour, attended by representatives of the countries that approved the signing process of the agreement at UNEA-5, gained importance because Delegates can now debate with the first draft of the agreement in hand.
The document proposes possible measures taken from the most assertive positions. Limiting plastic production and establishing global and binding standardsfewer focus on recycling and waste management.
Inger Andersen, director general of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), whose headquarters in Nairobi hosted the meeting, said at the press conference: It is very important that the agreement covers the “entire life cycle” of plastic, not just recycling or waste management.
“This is about completely rethinking how we use plastic, eliminating unnecessary and pointless plastic,” Andersen emphasized.
“Today we encourage the industry to get involved, to be part of this changeleading change, innovating, rethinking and imagining what other products could be,” added the UNEP chief.
two opposing sides
Most plastics are derived from petrochemicals derived from fossil fuels, making this material a novel material. The business line that producing countries and industry do not want to give upIn the midst of the energy transition and the reduction of coal, oil and gas.
Not all participants are willing to sign a global agreement, as they advocate specific rules for each country. In the previous round of negotiations in Paris, Saudi Arabia, China, the United States and India have advocated for an agreement in which nations could freely determine their own commitments.. This would be a sweetened version of the deal being worked on, as nations would have wide margins to dilute the goal of ending plastic pollution.
Faced with this situation, an alliance of some sixty countries, supported by Rwanda and Norway, The European Union (EU) has reaffirmed its commitment to achieving a global and global commitment to end plastic waste by 2040. and an agreement based on the entire life cycle of plastic.
EU is part of the front calling for an end to plastic waste by 2040, with a binding deal for the whole planet
Environmental organization Greenpeace demanded at a press conference in Nairobi on Monday that “the global agreement on plastics must set binding, clear and concrete targets to reduce plastic production by at least 75% between now and 2040.”
“We need a strong agreement to end plastic production and use” María Ledesma, the NGO’s Southeast Asia representative, underlined this, ultimately ending the age of plastic.
According to UNEP, humanity produces approximately 430 million tonnes of plastic every year, two-thirds of which quickly becomes waste, much of which pollutes land, sea and air; As humans move higher up the food chain.
As the Nairobi summit continues, negotiations will reach their halfway point this week, ahead of the next two meetings scheduled for April 2024 in Canada and in South Korea in the second half of that year.
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Contact address of the environmental department:krisclimatica@prensaiberica.es
Source: Informacion
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