Just a day after the conclusion of the United Nations’ annual climate conference in Azerbaijan, diplomats began convening in Busan, South Korea, for a separate bout of discussions — this time over plastics.
The fifth and potentially final round of negotiations over a global plastics treaty began on Monday, with hopes running high that countries will be able to wrap up a deal to address plastic pollution by December 1. During an opening ceremony, speakers from the U.N. entreated delegates to find the “bold political will” to address plastic’s damage to human health and the environment. South Korea’s environment minister, Kim Wan Sup, said that “we must end plastic pollution before plastic pollution ends us.”
Specifically at stake at INC-5, the official name for this round of negotiations, is what many participants consider to be the treaty’s defining question: Will the world directly limit the amount of plastic that manufacturers can produce? Dozens of countries have argued that a production cap is the only way to achieve the treaty’s goal to “end plastic poll... Read more
