What was supposed to be the final round of United Nations negotiations for a global plastics treaty ended without an agreement on Sunday, as delegates failed to reconcile opposing views on whether to impose a cap on plastic production.
Another negotiating session — dubbed INC-5.2 after this week’s INC-5 — will be held in 2025, but it’s unclear how countries will make further progress without a change in the treaty’s consensus-based decision-making process. As it stands, any delegation can essentially veto a proposal they don’t like, even if they’re opposed by most of the rest of the world.
Christina Dixon, oceans campaign leader for the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency, attended INC-5 and told Grist the conference made it clear that “consensus isn’t working.” She said countries seem to be recognizing this too, in light of INC-5’s shortcomings and the low probability of finding unanimity on the treaty’s most critical issues.
It’s more likely that delegations will arrive at INC-5.2 with proposals to change to a voting-based decision-making system. Senegal’s delegate, Cheikh Ndiaye Sylla, said it was a “big mistake” not to do this from the outset. The reason voting wasn’t discussed at INC-5 is because the topic tanked an entire week of negotiations last year.
“The process is broken, hobbling along while production of plastics and their toxic chemicals is escalating,” said Pam Miller, co-chair of the nonprofit International Pollutants Elimination Network, who attended the talks.
Frankie Orona, executive director of the nonprofit Society of Native Nations, which advocates for environmental justice and the preservation of Indigenous cultures, also objected to the draft treaty for insufficiently recognizing the rights of Indigenous peoples. More broadly, he criticized the treaty process for dragging on for two-and-a-half years while the impacts of plastic production and pollution on frontline communities continue. “We were now having conversations at INC-5 that we should’ve been having at INC-1,” he said. “Thousands of people are still going to be impacted … while [delegates] are sitting here figuring out how we can have a vote.”
Read the full story in Grist.