Debate over plastic production limits scuttles global treaty talks
Nations for plastic production limits and oil-rich producers deadlocked in the hours before the talks were set to expire.
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Nations for plastic production limits and oil-rich producers deadlocked in the hours before the talks were set to expire.
Negotiators are meeting in Busan, South Korea to conclude the world's first legally binding plastic waste treaty.
The ability to keep an important issue on the public agenda can depend on how an organization frames the debate.
When nations update their pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions next year, only a massive improvement will work.
As the U.N. honored the Geneva Conventions, the Red Cross chief said non-compliance is a 'serious problem.'
Building debris may take US$647 million and 15 years to clean up. Around 800,000 tons might qualify as hazardous waste.
Some pointed to a recent landmark human rights ruling on climate change as a potential use for a Global Plastics Treaty.
Environmentalists said they were disappointed the treaty talks did not address plastic production measures.
The chair of the talks called for optimism despite divisions among plastic-producing nations and those urging restraints.
Just 22.3% of all the e-waste - any product that has a plug or battery - was properly collected and recycled in 2022.
Armed conflicts and planetary crises were top concerns of the U.N. Environment Assembly, which adopted 15 resolutions.
Some migratory species are improving but 22% of those listed are threatened with extinction, including nearly all the fish.
A handful of fossil fuel producers show no interest in a strong, restrictive and legally binding instrument for plastic pollution.
Emissions must decrease 42% by 2030 to keep the 1.5° target alive. Instead, they're expected to rise 3% by then.
Oil and plastic producing nations and lobbyists sought more emphasis on recycling instead of production cuts.
This is the third round of talks to develop an international legally binding deal that includes plastic waste in the ocean.