US reluctant to support strict production restrictions under plastics treaty

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The United States faces growing pressure from leaders and environmentalists to demand tougher restrictions on plastics after Washington found itself on the same side as Russia and China in inconclusive negotiations of the UN on a global treaty.

In the penultimate round of negotiations aimed at reaching a treaty similar to the Paris climate agreement by the end of the year, oil-producing countries failed to reach a agreement with a “very ambitious” group including key EU member states and Japan who are lobbying. for bold limits on production.

The United States, which is not part of the coalition that includes China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, has aligned itself with these oil-producing countries in its resistance to including production controls in any treaty.

The US State Department said on Tuesday that “overly prescriptive approaches” to the treaty could deter “large producers or consumers of plastics” from joining the agreement.

“We recognize that downstream measures alone will not be enough to end plastic pollution. Therefore, the US approach is aimed at reducing demand for new plastic,” a State Department spokesperson told the Financial Times, citing the need to focus instead on recycling and reuse.

The US position sparked a backlash from some observers during the Ottawa treaty negotiations, who warned that demand-side measures would be insufficient to reduce the 400 million tonnes of annual plastic waste.

Graham Forbes, head of the Greenpeace delegation, said the United States had failed to show leadership.

Until President Joe Biden “takes action to reduce plastic production as part of the global treaty, the plastic industry will continue to accelerate climate change and harm human health for short-term profits term,” he said.

One retail executive said he was disappointed by the negotiations, but added that the politics behind any deal were “incredibly difficult”.

An official with a nonprofit environmental group said the U.S. position risks depriving the rest of the world of a tougher treaty.

“[The US] This is essentially about balancing the political will of the Biden administration to help solve the problem on a global scale. . . while recognizing that it is very difficult to ratify a global agreement in Congress,” they said.

Over the weekend, several Democratic senators urged the Biden administration to reject the State Department’s “current self-imposed constraints” and join “highly ambitious nations seeking high standards and accountability.”

Delegates also expressed concerns about the increased presence of fossil fuel lobbyists, who outnumber representatives in EU delegations, according to the Washington-based Center for International Environmental Law.

The industry has invested heavily in recent years as demand for plastic, which uses petrochemicals derived from fossil fuels as feedstock, is expected to nearly double by 2050. The International Energy Agency expects this that petrochemicals are the “main contributor” to the growth in oil demand. in the next five years.

Stewart Harris, of the International Council of Chemical Associations, which represents the largest plastics and petrochemical manufacturers, told the FT that production limits “would have significant unintended consequences on those who can least afford them”.

Plastic production accounted for 5% of global emissions in 2019, according to a report released this month by the University of California’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a footprint expected to double by mid-century. Although alternative materials to plastic could exacerbate the emissions footprint, the report argues that eliminating the use of non-essential plastics could reduce emissions.

John Duncan, co-chair of the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, which brings together more than 200 companies including Walmart and Unilever, said negotiators remained “fundamentally” separated at the end of the U.N. talks, which began the last week. The coalition supports binding restrictions on plastic production.

“These [fossil fuel] Companies and countries, to some extent, are backed into a corner,” Duncan said, adding that producers “cannot afford for the treaty to send the world on a different trajectory because they have invested so much in a future with no more plastic.” .