UN optimistic about reaching agreement on plastics in Geneva

UN convinced of possible agreement on plastics in Geneva Keystone-SDA

The United Nations (UN) is convinced that an international agreement to limit plastic pollution can be reached within 10 days in Geneva after further negotiations. “The time is right,” said UN Environment Executive Director Inger Andersen on Monday.

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“This is a treaty that the world wants and frankly needs,” said the Dane on the eve of the resumption of crucial negotiations, for the first time in Geneva. After more than three years of discussions, an arrangement is within reach, even if there are “clearly divergences”, she told the various players involved in the process, which will involve more than 170 countries from Tuesday.

“We have come to Geneva with the conviction that something can happen, that we can have an agreement,” said the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). She remains in favour of a treaty that covers “the whole cycle” of plastics, from production to waste management, and that allows for sustainable production and consumption.

But it will be necessary to convince the few oil-producing countries that blocked the process less than a year ago in South Korea. Since that meeting, the other countries, including Switzerland, have made concessions, abandoning the idea of imposing a quantitative limit on production in an attempt to reach a consensus on the objective of stabilising production.

The chairman of the negotiations, Ecuadorian ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso, and the executive secretary, Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, called on civil society to influence the governments. “This is a historic opportunity” to improve the situation of future generations, said the former.

Swiss step up

“This is a historic moment,” said Felix Wertli, head of international affairs at the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and chief Swiss negotiator. He called for “commitment” , “collaboration” and “efficiency” .

Plastic “affects all our societies and all of us”, added the Swiss ambassador. “We have the science, we have the right time and we have the platform here in Geneva,” he also insisted, even if much work remains to be done.

FOEN Director Katrin Schneeberger will be present on Tuesday for the opening of the negotiations. Wertli will then lead the Swiss delegation until the arrival of government minister Albert Rösti on August 13 and 14, alongside around 70 other ministers.

In almost 25 years, plastic consumption has more than doubled, reaching 500 million tonnes in 2024, of which almost 400 million tonnes will end up as waste. If the situation is not stabilised, it will exceed 1.2 billion tonnes by 2060. And waste will exceed 1 billion tonnes.

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Translated from French by DeepL/jdp

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