GENEVA (AP) — Environmentalists and Indigenous leaders signed in front of a UN building in Geneva on Tuesday. Global agreement to end plastic pollution It is happening, asking the nation to show courage and agree to a strong treaty.
Most were from organizations that were part of the plastic-free break. They said they hope that when the speech is over in Switzerland, their voices will be heard. The nation is creating the first global, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.
“We understand how important this is and how important this is, so we invested all the way out of our community, away from our community and all the way to Geneva,” said Juressa Lee, a New Zealand native and representing the Aotearoa plastic pollution alliance. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime plastic treaty.”
They urged representatives to vote for the treaty if they were unable to reach the consensus and the process was paralyzed. All States must agree to the proposals contained in the treaty.
The talks are expected to end on Thursday.
“The process has been broken so far,” said Brett Nadrich, spokesman for Break Free Frot Frot Frot Free. “Civil society leaders around the world, together with those most affected, speak in a unified voice that they need to show courage to compromise, compromise and correct the process.”
Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, the head of the delegation to the Panama consultation, cheered them on while he walked.
“We need it all around the world,” he told The Associated Press. “We need people outside here to tell their countries to talk about what they are standing. Are they standing for them, for citizens, or for the great oil?”
The biggest question is whether the treaty should place a cap on the production of new plastics or instead focus on better design, recycling, reuse, etc. Panama is leading efforts to include plastic production in the treaty.
“We’re going to push to the end,” said Monterrey Gomez. “If there is no production, there is no treaty.”
Most plastics are made from fossil fuels. Strong oil producers are strongly opposed to the inclusion of plastic production in treaties.
The momentum of the proposal, led by Mexico and Switzerland, is increasing the number of articles that address problematic plastic products, including single-use plastics and chemicals.
Camila Zepeda, who leads the negotiations in that article in Mexico, said she understands that there are harmful additives in plastics and plastics that are not essential to everyday life that are managed and eventually phased out.
Zepeda said Tuesday’s session was “very intense” as negotiators work on the clock.
“It’s slow progress,” she said. “But hopefully we can still get an agreement. I’m looking at the desire to finish here in Geneva and get results.”
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