Final round of plastics negotiations kick off in Korea

Report for Deutschlandfunk

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. Continue reading “Final round of plastics negotiations kick off in Korea”

Forever Chemicals (Teaser)

Hey There, it’s Anja. I just wanted to wish you a Happy World Environment Day! And I’ve got a treat for you. There’s a new podcast series I’ve been listening to the past weeks, that is really great – and I wanted to share it with you. It’s called Forever Chemicals, and it’s produced by Meg Carney and team at Black-Footed Ferret Productions. Here’s a little teaser:

Transcript Continue reading “Forever Chemicals (Teaser)”

Plastic Money – Turning Off the Subsidies Tap


In March 2024, negotiators and experts came together in Bellagio, Italy, for an exclusive meeting to discuss an essential topic: Plastic money. And we’re not talking about credit cards here, but the actual money we people around the world are paying for the production of plastics through our governments’ subsidies. I met with the organizers of the meeting, Ronald Steenblik of the Quaker United Nations Office QUNO and his colleague Andrés Naranjo, and Alexandra Harrington from Lancaster University Law School. She also chairs the Plastic Pollution Task Force of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law. Learn more from them about plastic subsidies in this episode!

Transcript Continue reading “Plastic Money – Turning Off the Subsidies Tap”

Transcript: How (not) to Make a Plastics Treaty – Part II: Drama and Delay

This is the second of three parts of the conversation. We take you back into each meeting of the treaty negotiations – INC-1 in Uruguay, INC-2 in France and INC-3 in Kenya. We’ll talk diplomacy and give you a better understanding of what’s going on on the international stage.

Transcript
Continue reading “Transcript: How (not) to Make a Plastics Treaty – Part II: Drama and Delay”

Transcript: How (Not) to Make a Plastics Treaty – Part I: Ambition in a Bracket

This is the first of three parts of the conversation. We take you back into each meeting of the treaty negotiations – INC-1 in Uruguay, INC-2 in France and INC-3 in Kenya. We’ll talk diplomacy and give you a better understanding of what’s going on on the international stage.


Continue reading “Transcript: How (Not) to Make a Plastics Treaty – Part I: Ambition in a Bracket”

In German: SCHIRN mini-series

We dove into the PLASTIC WORLD – a world full of incredible possibilities, but also problematic side effects. Meet plastics experts from various disciplines in this three-part series in German language on the SCHIRN podcast, including art exhibition curator Martina Weinhart, soil ecologist Matthias Rillig, deep-sea ecologist Melanie Bergmann, eco toxicologist Martin Wagner and political scientist Per-Olof Busch. They present important insights into the current discourse on plastics in science, the art world, and politics.

Realized by SCHIRN MAG and Ahnen&Enkel – where I work now. With illustrations by Moritz Wienert.