The plastic agreement is postponed - until "a later date"

 

Busan
No global plastic agreement – ​​countries could not agree

TTUpdated 14.57 | Published 13.48

Luis Vayas Valdivieso, President of the INC-5 meeting in Busan. Picture from the press conference earlier this week. Photo: Son Hyung-Joo/Yonhap Via AP/TT

The countries of the world failed to agree on a global agreement to curb plastic pollution.

More time will be required, states the chairman of the meeting.

- We must build on the progress we have made, says Luis Vayas Valdivieso.

- There is an agreement to resume the meeting at a later date to finish the negotiations, says the Ecuadorian chairman Luis Vayas Valdivieso.

Almost 200 countries have had representatives on site in Busan, South Korea, where hopes have been for a new global plastic agreement.

But a week of talks has failed to bridge the deep divide between countries that want to stop the production of harmful chemicals and those that want to focus on the waste.

Delegates from countries such as Germany, Portugal and Senegal felt that the deal on the table was too weak, and considered that negotiations should continue at a later date. Environmental organizations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), on the contrary, thought that a vote should be held where the countries that want to adopt a more progressive text could do so, even if not all could agree.

- We know what we need to do to end plastic litter. Simply adding more meetings is not the solution, said policy manager Eirik Lindebjerg.

Over 100 countries support a target for production reduction and dozens also want to phase out some chemicals and unnecessary plastic products. But the world's two largest plastic producers, the US and China, are not among them.

- Although it is positive that we were able to agree on parts of the text, we must admit that some critical issues remain which mean that we cannot reach an agreement, says Luis Vayas Valdivieso.

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The plastic pollution
Talks on plastics have collapsed - no deal

The UN talks on plastic pollution have ended in Busan, South Korea, without an agreement being reached. The talks are to resume next year, AP reports.

Over 100 countries backed a binding agreement to limit plastic production in the world. A number of oil-producing countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, resisted.