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Monday, December 02, 2024 3:53:32 PM
Plastics. Again the wealthy beat down the poor - Countries fail to reach
agreement on plastic pollution treaty at UN talks in South Korea
------
2021 - "It might be the world's biggest ocean, but the mighty Pacific is in peril
"Vast Field Of Debris From Japan Earthquake And Tsunami Floating Towards US West Coast
Environment, Global News .. Posted on April 10"
[...]
The ocean plastic scourge
The problem of ocean plastic was scientifically recognised .. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-16510-3_1 .. in the 1960s after two scientists saw albatross carcasses littering the beaches of the northwest Hawaiian Islands in the northern Pacific. Almost three in four albatross chicks, who died before they could fledge, had plastic in their stomachs.
[...]
A scourge on small island nations
Plastic is extremely durable, and can float vast distances across the ocean. In 2011, 5 million tonnes of debris .. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/aa-updates/japan-tsunami-marine-debris.html .. entered the Pacific during the Japan tsunami. Some crossed the entire ocean basin, ending up on North American coastlines .. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35638091 .
[...]
It's not too late
More than half a billion .. https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/marine-life/coral-reef-ecosystems .. people depend on coral reefs for food, income, and protection from storms and coastal erosion.
Reefs provide jobs — such as in tourism and fishing – and places for recreation. Globally, coral reefs represent an industry worth US$11.9 trillion per year .. http://coralreefs.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/modified-consensus-statement-ICRS-2018.pdf . And importantly, they're a place of deep cultural and spiritual connection for Indigenous people around the world.
Ocean acidification is not the only threat to coral reefs. Under climate change, the rate of ocean warming has doubled since the 1990s .. https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/ . The Great Barrier Reef, for example, has warmed by 0.8? since the Industrial Revolution.
Over the past five years .. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0041-2 .. this has caused devastating back-to-back coral bleaching events .. https://theconversation.com/we-just-spent-two-weeks-surveying-the-great-barrier-reef-what-we-saw-was-an-utter-tragedy-135197 . The effects of warmer seas are magnified .. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.516 .. by ocean acidification.
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions must become a global mission. COVID-19 has slowed our movements across the planet, showing it's possible to radically slash our production of CO2. If the world meets the most ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement .. https://climateactiontracker.org/methodology/paris-temperature-goal/ .. and keeps global temperature increases below 1.5?, the Pacific will experience far less severe decreases in oceanic pH.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=160947982"
------
21 hours ago
Protesters calling for a strong global plastics treaty gathered outside the venue of the talks in Busan.
(AP Photo: Ahn Young-joon)
In short:
Countries have failed to reach an agreement on tackling plastic pollution after more than 200 delegates met in South Korea for what was meant to be a final round of talks.
They remained divided on the basic scope of a treaty, with most countries wanting to cap plastic production, while a handful were only prepared to target plastic waste.
What's next?
For any proposal to make it into the treaty, every nation must agree to it. But with time running out on Monday, delegates could only agree to resume talks at a later date.
Countries negotiating a global treaty to curb plastic pollution have failed to reach an agreement, with more than 100 nations wanting to cap production, while a handful of oil producers were prepared only to target plastic waste.
For a week, more than 200 negotiators have wrestled with how to stop millions of tonnes of plastic waste entering the environment each year.
They had agreed two years ago that they would find a way to address the crisis by the end of 2024, with this fifth UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting in Busan, South Korea, meant to be the final one by yielding a legally binding global treaty.
However, on Monday, countries remained far apart on the basic scope of a treaty and could agree only to postpone key decisions and resume talks, dubbed INC-5.2, at a later date.
"It is clear that there is still persisting divergence," said Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme.
Which plastics can – and can't – be recycled? Here's a rough guide
Do you know your PP from your HDPE, your PVC from your soft plastics? Plastic recycling is
a minefield, so here's how to tell what you're dealing with and which bin you should put it in.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2023-07-26/plastic-pet-numbers-recycling-is-minefield/102506914
The most divisive issues included capping plastic production, managing plastic products and chemicals of concern, and financing to help developing countries implement the treaty.
An option proposed by Panama — backed by more than 100 countries — would have created a path for a global plastic production reduction target, while another proposal did not include production caps.
The fault lines were apparent in a revised document released on Sunday by the meeting's chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso, which may form the basis of a treaty, but remained riddled with options on the most sensitive issues.
"A treaty that … only relies on voluntary measures would not be acceptable," said Juliet Kabera, director general of Rwanda's Environment
Management Authority.
"It is time we take it seriously and negotiate a treaty that is fit for purpose and not built to fail."
The most divisive issues at the UN plastic talks were capping plastic production and financing to help developing
countries implement the treaty. (AP Photo: Ahn Young-joon)
A small number of petrochemical-producing nations, such as Saudi Arabia, have strongly opposed efforts to reduce plastic production and have tried to use procedural tactics to delay negotiations.
"There was never any consensus," said Saudi Arabian delegate Abdulrahman Al Gwaiz.
"There are a couple of articles that somehow seem to make it [into the document] despite our continued insistence that they are not within the scope.
"If you address plastic pollution, there should be no problem with producing plastics, because the problem is the pollution, not the plastics themselves."
China, the United States, India, South Korea and Saudi Arabia were the top five primary polymer-producing nations in 2023, according to data provider Eunomia.
Entrenched divisions
If negotiators had overcome such divisions, the treaty would have been one of the most significant deals relating to environmental protection since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The postponement comes just days after the turbulent conclusion of the COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.
At Baku, countries set a new global target for mobilising $US300 billion ($460 billion) annually in climate finance — a deal deemed woefully insufficient by small island states and many developing countries.
[Insert: Russell Vought is just the man to implement Trump’s autocratic vision
"I'll add some notes of current events including COP29's poke in the eye joke."
Related: A leaked OPEC letter shows the oil cartel’s worry over the COP28 climate talks, environmentalists say
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=173399459
G20 talks in Rio reach breakthrough on climate finance, sources say''
[...]----------------
Trump picks oil industry executive, climate change denier to lead Energy Department
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=175446319]
The 'David and Goliath moment' at The Hague that could change future climate talks
The International Court of Justice is set to begin hearings in a landmark case
on the obligations of states to protect the climate from greenhouse gases.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-01/vanuatu-icj-climate-change-case-pacific-island-students/104657334
[ Note: When the ICC go after African leaders who have allegedly committed heinous crimes they are applauded, but as soon as they go after friends of the most wealthy and powerful western nations who are allegedly guilty of equally terrible crimes the ICC is vilified. It is clear the worthwhile concept of equal justice for all was in huge trouble when the United States and other powerful countries refused to recognize the ICC .. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/world/middleeast/us-icc-member-countries.html ]
The climate talks were also slowed by procedural manoeuvres by Saudi Arabia who objected to the inclusion of language that reaffirmed a previous commitment to transition away from fossil fuels.
Some negotiators said a few countries held the proceedings hostage, avoiding compromises needed by using the UN's consensus process.
Senegal's National Delegate, Cheikh Ndiaye Sylla, called it "a big mistake" to exclude voting during the entire negotiations, an agreement made last year during the second round of talks in Paris.
"This outcome underscores the complexity of addressing plastic pollution on a global scale and the need for further deliberations to achieve an effective, inclusive and workable treaty," said Chris Jahn, council secretary of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), representing plastic makers.
Environmental group GAIA said: "There is little assurance that the next INC will succeed where INC-5 did not."
Plastic production is on track to triple by 2050, and microplastics have been found in the air, fresh produce and even human breast milk.
Chemicals found to be of concern in plastics include more than 3,200, according to a 2023 UN Environment Programme report, which said women and children were particularly susceptible to their toxicity.
Despite the postponement, several negotiators expressed urgency to get back into talks.
"Every day of delay is a day against humanity. Postponing negotiations does not postpone the crisis," said Panama's delegation head Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez on Sunday.
"When we reconvene, the stakes will be higher."
Reuters/AFP
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-02/countries-fail-to-reach-agreement-in-un-plastic-talks/104671350
agreement on plastic pollution treaty at UN talks in South Korea
------
2021 - "It might be the world's biggest ocean, but the mighty Pacific is in peril
"Vast Field Of Debris From Japan Earthquake And Tsunami Floating Towards US West Coast
Environment, Global News .. Posted on April 10"
[...]
The ocean plastic scourge
The problem of ocean plastic was scientifically recognised .. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-16510-3_1 .. in the 1960s after two scientists saw albatross carcasses littering the beaches of the northwest Hawaiian Islands in the northern Pacific. Almost three in four albatross chicks, who died before they could fledge, had plastic in their stomachs.
[...]
A scourge on small island nations
Plastic is extremely durable, and can float vast distances across the ocean. In 2011, 5 million tonnes of debris .. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/aa-updates/japan-tsunami-marine-debris.html .. entered the Pacific during the Japan tsunami. Some crossed the entire ocean basin, ending up on North American coastlines .. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35638091 .
[...]
It's not too late
More than half a billion .. https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/marine-life/coral-reef-ecosystems .. people depend on coral reefs for food, income, and protection from storms and coastal erosion.
Reefs provide jobs — such as in tourism and fishing – and places for recreation. Globally, coral reefs represent an industry worth US$11.9 trillion per year .. http://coralreefs.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/modified-consensus-statement-ICRS-2018.pdf . And importantly, they're a place of deep cultural and spiritual connection for Indigenous people around the world.
Ocean acidification is not the only threat to coral reefs. Under climate change, the rate of ocean warming has doubled since the 1990s .. https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/ . The Great Barrier Reef, for example, has warmed by 0.8? since the Industrial Revolution.
Over the past five years .. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0041-2 .. this has caused devastating back-to-back coral bleaching events .. https://theconversation.com/we-just-spent-two-weeks-surveying-the-great-barrier-reef-what-we-saw-was-an-utter-tragedy-135197 . The effects of warmer seas are magnified .. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.516 .. by ocean acidification.
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions must become a global mission. COVID-19 has slowed our movements across the planet, showing it's possible to radically slash our production of CO2. If the world meets the most ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement .. https://climateactiontracker.org/methodology/paris-temperature-goal/ .. and keeps global temperature increases below 1.5?, the Pacific will experience far less severe decreases in oceanic pH.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=160947982"
------
21 hours ago
Protesters calling for a strong global plastics treaty gathered outside the venue of the talks in Busan.
(AP Photo: Ahn Young-joon)
In short:
Countries have failed to reach an agreement on tackling plastic pollution after more than 200 delegates met in South Korea for what was meant to be a final round of talks.
They remained divided on the basic scope of a treaty, with most countries wanting to cap plastic production, while a handful were only prepared to target plastic waste.
What's next?
For any proposal to make it into the treaty, every nation must agree to it. But with time running out on Monday, delegates could only agree to resume talks at a later date.
Countries negotiating a global treaty to curb plastic pollution have failed to reach an agreement, with more than 100 nations wanting to cap production, while a handful of oil producers were prepared only to target plastic waste.
For a week, more than 200 negotiators have wrestled with how to stop millions of tonnes of plastic waste entering the environment each year.
They had agreed two years ago that they would find a way to address the crisis by the end of 2024, with this fifth UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting in Busan, South Korea, meant to be the final one by yielding a legally binding global treaty.
However, on Monday, countries remained far apart on the basic scope of a treaty and could agree only to postpone key decisions and resume talks, dubbed INC-5.2, at a later date.
"It is clear that there is still persisting divergence," said Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme.
Which plastics can – and can't – be recycled? Here's a rough guide
Do you know your PP from your HDPE, your PVC from your soft plastics? Plastic recycling is
a minefield, so here's how to tell what you're dealing with and which bin you should put it in.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2023-07-26/plastic-pet-numbers-recycling-is-minefield/102506914
The most divisive issues included capping plastic production, managing plastic products and chemicals of concern, and financing to help developing countries implement the treaty.
An option proposed by Panama — backed by more than 100 countries — would have created a path for a global plastic production reduction target, while another proposal did not include production caps.
The fault lines were apparent in a revised document released on Sunday by the meeting's chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso, which may form the basis of a treaty, but remained riddled with options on the most sensitive issues.
"A treaty that … only relies on voluntary measures would not be acceptable," said Juliet Kabera, director general of Rwanda's Environment
Management Authority.
"It is time we take it seriously and negotiate a treaty that is fit for purpose and not built to fail."
The most divisive issues at the UN plastic talks were capping plastic production and financing to help developing
countries implement the treaty. (AP Photo: Ahn Young-joon)
A small number of petrochemical-producing nations, such as Saudi Arabia, have strongly opposed efforts to reduce plastic production and have tried to use procedural tactics to delay negotiations.
"There was never any consensus," said Saudi Arabian delegate Abdulrahman Al Gwaiz.
"There are a couple of articles that somehow seem to make it [into the document] despite our continued insistence that they are not within the scope.
"If you address plastic pollution, there should be no problem with producing plastics, because the problem is the pollution, not the plastics themselves."
China, the United States, India, South Korea and Saudi Arabia were the top five primary polymer-producing nations in 2023, according to data provider Eunomia.
Entrenched divisions
If negotiators had overcome such divisions, the treaty would have been one of the most significant deals relating to environmental protection since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The postponement comes just days after the turbulent conclusion of the COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.
At Baku, countries set a new global target for mobilising $US300 billion ($460 billion) annually in climate finance — a deal deemed woefully insufficient by small island states and many developing countries.
[Insert: Russell Vought is just the man to implement Trump’s autocratic vision
"I'll add some notes of current events including COP29's poke in the eye joke."
Related: A leaked OPEC letter shows the oil cartel’s worry over the COP28 climate talks, environmentalists say
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=173399459
G20 talks in Rio reach breakthrough on climate finance, sources say''
[...]----------------
Trump picks oil industry executive, climate change denier to lead Energy Department
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=175446319]
The 'David and Goliath moment' at The Hague that could change future climate talks
The International Court of Justice is set to begin hearings in a landmark case
on the obligations of states to protect the climate from greenhouse gases.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-01/vanuatu-icj-climate-change-case-pacific-island-students/104657334
[ Note: When the ICC go after African leaders who have allegedly committed heinous crimes they are applauded, but as soon as they go after friends of the most wealthy and powerful western nations who are allegedly guilty of equally terrible crimes the ICC is vilified. It is clear the worthwhile concept of equal justice for all was in huge trouble when the United States and other powerful countries refused to recognize the ICC .. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/world/middleeast/us-icc-member-countries.html ]
The climate talks were also slowed by procedural manoeuvres by Saudi Arabia who objected to the inclusion of language that reaffirmed a previous commitment to transition away from fossil fuels.
Some negotiators said a few countries held the proceedings hostage, avoiding compromises needed by using the UN's consensus process.
Senegal's National Delegate, Cheikh Ndiaye Sylla, called it "a big mistake" to exclude voting during the entire negotiations, an agreement made last year during the second round of talks in Paris.
"This outcome underscores the complexity of addressing plastic pollution on a global scale and the need for further deliberations to achieve an effective, inclusive and workable treaty," said Chris Jahn, council secretary of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), representing plastic makers.
Environmental group GAIA said: "There is little assurance that the next INC will succeed where INC-5 did not."
Plastic production is on track to triple by 2050, and microplastics have been found in the air, fresh produce and even human breast milk.
Chemicals found to be of concern in plastics include more than 3,200, according to a 2023 UN Environment Programme report, which said women and children were particularly susceptible to their toxicity.
Despite the postponement, several negotiators expressed urgency to get back into talks.
"Every day of delay is a day against humanity. Postponing negotiations does not postpone the crisis," said Panama's delegation head Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez on Sunday.
"When we reconvene, the stakes will be higher."
Reuters/AFP
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-02/countries-fail-to-reach-agreement-in-un-plastic-talks/104671350
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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