Global Environmental Diplomacy faces setback at UN Plastics Summit

An opinion piece by Bloomberg explores the recent failure of a United Nations meeting in South Korea aimed at tackling plastic pollution.

The recent failed United Nations meeting in Busan, South Korea, which was meant to finalize a treaty to prevent plastic pollution, underscores the challenges facing global environmental diplomacy. While such meetings are often criticised as ineffective, they have had real-world consequences in the past. For example, the 1987 Montreal Protocol successfully slowed global warming and prevented millions of cancer deaths, while policies under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have reduced carbon emissions by 12 per cent over the last 15 years.

The difficulty of these negotiations was evident in the recent COP29 climate conference, hosted by Azerbaijan, where political maneuvering disrupted progress. The meeting in Busan aimed to tackle plastic pollution, a significant global issue, and began two years ago with the UN's "End Plastic Pollution" resolution. Yet after extensive discussions, the final text failed to commit to the fundamental goal of ending plastic pollution. Instead, it was bogged down with qualifications and disputes, and another meeting will be required to finalize the treaty.

This paralysis is partly due to the influence of countries like OPEC members, whose economies rely heavily on fossil fuels, and the US, which has been more aligned with pro-fossil fuel policies. These nations have been key blockers in pushing forward environmental goals. However, this focus on obstructive countries overlooks the need for all nations to address the more radical changes required to tackle climate change and plastic pollution.

Climate change, which has seen an industrial revolution in clean energy technologies like solar, wind, and electric vehicles, presents a clearer path forward. Despite this, progress remains slow due to established interests and risk aversion in rich democracies. However, addressing plastic pollution is even more difficult, as there are fewer alternatives to replace it, especially in industries reliant on oil.

Investments in refineries for plastic production are increasing, while oil production has not seen similar growth, indicating that the plastics industry is seen as a rare source of ongoing demand. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts a 60 per cent increase in plastic demand by 2040. The real work, however, lies in reducing plastic consumption in our daily lives—a much harder challenge than international agreements alone can address.

By Naila Huseynova