by Geneva (AP) – Environmental activists and indigenous leaders held signs for the buildings of the United Nations in Geneva on Tuesday, where conversations for a global agreement to end plastic pollution, demonstrate nations to show courage and to agree to a strong treaty.
Most came from organizations that are part of the break free of plastic movement. They said they wanted their voices to be heard when the conversations arrived in Switzerland. Nations make the first global, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.
“We have invested a lot to get all the way to Geneva, away from our communities, away from our families, because we understand how important a problem this is and how crucial this is a moment,” said Juressa Lee, who comes from New Zealand and represents the Aotearoa plastic pollution alliance. “It’s a one -off treaty with plastics.”
They insisted on delegates to vote on the treaty if no consensus can be reached and the process is paralyzed. Each nation must agree to be included in the treaty.
The conversations are planned to close on Thursday.
“To date, the process has been broken,” says Brett Nadrich, spokesperson for a break free of plastic. “Civil Society leaders from all over the world, along with the most affected, speak with a uniform voice that we have to show, do not make compromises and resolve the process.”
The head of Panama’s delegation for the conversations, Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, welcomed them while he walked past.
“We need that around the world,” he told The Associated Press. “We need people here to tell their countries to speak for what they stand for. Are they standing in front of them, their burgers or large oil?”
The biggest problem is whether the treaty should impose caps on producing new plastic or focusing on things such as better design, recycling and reuse instead. Panama helps to make an attempt to include plastic production in the treaty.
“We’re going to push until the end,” said Monterrey Gomez. “Because if there is no production, there is no treaty.”
Most plastic is made of fossil fuels. Powerful oil -producing countries are strong against absorbing plastic production in the treaty.
Momentum has grown for a proposal led by Mexico and Switzerland for an article to tackle problematic plastic products, including plastics for one -time use and chemicals.
Camila Zepeda, who leads negotiations on that article for Mexico, said that there is a concept that there are harmful additives in plastics and some plastics that are not essential for daily life that can be managed and ultimately reduced.
Tuesday’s sessions are “very intense” while negotiators work against the clock, Zepeda said.
“It’s slow progress,” she said. “But hopefully we still succeed in getting an agreement. I do see a appetite to end and to get a solution in Geneva here.”
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