‘Ambitious’ global plastics treaty calls for limits on production, Guilbeault says

OTTAWA – A global treaty to end plastic waste won’t be ambitious enough if it doesn’t include some limits on plastic production, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Tuesday as the fourth round of negotiations began in Ottawa.

Scientific evidence shows that reducing the amount of plastic produced is the only way to keep it out of the environment, not to mention what the world eats, drinks and breathes, environmental groups say.

One of them, Greenpeace, wants the agreement to include a 75 percent reduction in plastic production by 2040.

Companies that make plastic argue that there is no need for lids, because alternatives to plastic They are usually more expensive and consume more energy. The issue stalled discussions at the treaty’s final negotiating session in Kenya last fall.

Guilbeault has been hesitant to take a specific position on calling for production limits, worried that being too prescriptive before negotiations occur could sink the Ottawa talks before they even began.

On Tuesday, those concerns appeared to be easing.

“Frankly, what I’ve heard over the last two days of ministerial roundtables… is that people don’t just want a deal, they want an ambitious deal,” Guilbeault said.

Canada is part of an international coalition that wants much the same thing. Earlier this month, that group emphasized that ending plastic waste would require legally binding standards “to restrict and reduce the consumption and production of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels.”

The negotiations in Ottawa are the fourth of five rounds planned with the goal of reaching a treaty by the end of the year that would eliminate plastic waste by 2040. More than 350 million tons of plastic are believed to be thrown away each year, and less than a a tenth ends up recycled. More than a fifth ends up in the environment, where it is harmful to people and all forms of nature.

The US-based Ocean Conservancy reports that 11 million tons of plastic end up in the oceans each year, an average amount roughly equivalent to dropping a commercial airliner into the ocean every minute.

The current draft of the treaty, developed during the third round of talks in Kenya last fall, has a long section with multiple options on how to handle production.

One option, similar to the Paris climate agreement on greenhouse gas emissions, would be for each country to set national targets for reducing production. Another suggests there is no need to restrict production at all as long as waste can be managed.

Sarah King, head of the plastic and Greenpeace Canada’s ocean campaign, agreed that a solid agreement to limit production is unlikely to be reached in Ottawa.

She and most others hope the sides will agree to hold formal discussions between the Ottawa event and the fifth negotiating session in Korea in November. That would allow much more

“We just want to make sure the cuts stay on the table,” he said. Canada, as a host country, needs to show more leadership on this issue, she added.

“We need Canada to champion the boldest measures, and that is cuts to plastic production and ensuring that reuse and reduction targets remain in that text.”

Guilbeault has previously said he would like about 70 per cent of the draft text to be “clean” by the time the Ottawa talks conclude next week. That would require delegates to agree on more than two-thirds of the text, leaving the most difficult questions for last.

Guilbeault is the minister hosting the talks and plays a crucial role, but does not lead the negotiations. That job falls to Luis Vayas Valdivieso, an Ecuadorian diplomat who was appointed last fall to chair treaty discussions.

He said Tuesday that he wants negotiators to approach the task at hand with optimism, responsibility and integrity, based on science.

“We are at a crucial moment in our process,” he said. “We know there are difficulties, but I am confident that we can find ways to build shared understandings and identify areas of convergence.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2024.