Delegates from more than 170 nations are gathered in Busan this week to hammer out the details of what could become the world’s first treaty paving the path to end plastic pollution.
The talks in South Korea, starting just days after the UN’s climate summit in Azerbaijan, have the enormous task of addressing the scourge of plastic pollution that is suffocating ecosystems, infiltrating food chains, and posing serious risks to human health.
“Plastics are blowing out the carbon budget,” Bjorn Beeler, executive director of the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), told The Independent.
Plastic’s impact extends far beyond littered beaches and clogged rivers. “We’re recycling toxic chemicals again and again,” Mr Beeler explained. “Exposure increases with each cycle, and the health impacts – cancer, infertility, developmental disorders – are only going to escalate.”
Negotiations have been fraught with delays and political roadblocks. Midway through the talks, there is still no consensus on the text of the treaty, and delegates are scrambling to bridge the divide between opposing camps.
“The meeting is being held hostage by oil states that refuse to move forward,” Mr Beeler said. “We’re halfway through, and there’s still no draft text. At this rate, it’s impossible to deliver a meaningful agreement by the end of the week.”
Read the full story in The Independent.