In a week’s time, the world wants to agree on a global plastics treaty. At least that is the hope of many of the 3,800 participants in the fifth and final round of negotiations currently taking place in South Korea. In addition to diplomats and observers from civil society and business, many scientists are also taking part. What makes them go on the long journey? Plastisphere host Anja Krieger spoke to a participant from Germany for German national public radio.
Doris Knoblauch: “Science plays a super important role in the negotiations because the issue of plastics and plastic waste, that’s a very difficult and complex issue.”
Doris Knoblauch is a political scientist at Ecologic, an independent research institute for environmental policy in Berlin. She is one of the 71 scientists accompanying the plastic negotiations in Busan. Their most important task: to pass on the latest scientific findings to the country delegations
Doris Knoblauch: “For the smaller countries, this is often just one or two people, for the larger countries it’s more people, but even they usually… are not scientists. Instead, they are diplomats or political representatives, which is why science plays a very special, important role in ensuring that the negotiations are also informed by facts.”
If national and economic interests dominate the negotiations, the agreement could end up failing or becoming a toothless tiger. To prevent this, 420 scientists from 60 countries have come together to form an international network: the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty.
Doris Knoblauch: “We have several demands, but the three most important ones are that the treaty is binding, that it is legally binding, that it considers the entire cycle, starting with production, which absolutely must be regulated, but also all other stages, and the third point is that the experts involved are free from conflicts of interest.”
The negotiations are therefore not just about marine litter. Plastic is associated with consequences for the environment, people and the climate along its entire product cycle: From the extraction of gas and oil to the production of materials, disposal, incineration, recycling and pollution of the environment. The agreement should also regulate the chemicals contained in plastic, the scientists demand: thousands of these substances are considered problematic to health. In addition, the large number of different chemicals that are added to plastic products makes recycling difficult.
But what will happen if the countries in Busan are unable to reach such a comprehensive agreement?
Doris Knoblauch: “It will of course get worse and worse for the environment and also for health. Plastic will continue to accumulate (…) because – this is both a curse and a blessing – plastic lasts an incredibly long time, wherever it is – where it belongs and where it doesn’t belong.”
It remains to be seen whether the agreement can stop this. The rounds of negotiations organized by the United Nations Environment Programme over the last two years have been marked by delaying tactics and dissent. Instead of coming closer together, the representatives of the countries have been recording more and more different ideas in a draft text that some are already calling the “Frankenstein document”.
Doris Knoblauch: “The positions are very far apart – in other words, if we reach an agreement at all, or the negotiators reach an agreement at all, then that is a step forward – of course, it must not be watered down so much that it ends up being a compromise that doesn’t take us any further forward, so to speak. But I would say that an agreement is better than no agreement, even if it is a less ambitious one, because then we can keep the issue on the agenda and continue to negotiate over the next few years.”
After the more than sluggish process in the first four rounds of negotiations, this is the hope for the scientists here in Busan: that the countries will agree on a treaty at the end of the week that will allow for gradual strengthening over the next few years and not obstruct it. At least there was some good news on Monday: instead of blocking for days, the delegates agreed on the new, simplified draft of the head of negotiations – albeit still with reservations.