“ONCE-IN-A-GENERATION”
Some countries, including the so-called High Ambition Coalition (HAC) that groups many African, Asian and European nations, want to discuss the entire “lifecycle” of plastics.
That means limiting production, redesigning products for reuse and recycling, and addressing waste.
On the other side are countries, largely oil producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia, who want a downstream focus on waste alone.
The HAC wants binding global targets on reducing production and warned ahead of the Busan talks that “vested interests” should not be allowed to hamper a deal.
The divisions have stymied four previous rounds of talks, producing an unwieldy document of over 70 pages.
Valdivieso has produced an alternative document intended to synthesise the views of delegations and move negotiations forward.
It is a more manageable 17 pages and highlights areas of agreement, including the need to promote reusability.
However, it leaves the thorniest issues largely unaddressed, angering some more ambitious nations and environmental groups.
And at the start of talks on Monday, Saudi Arabia, representing Arab nations, said the paper “cannot be the basis of our negotiations”.
“The reality is that many countries do not see themselves represented in this paper,” warned delegation head Eyad Aljubran.
