G7 calls for curbing ‘alarming’ production, but must still convince China and the Gulf nations

To stem the “alarming” increase in plastic pollution, the G7 countries are for the first time invoking the need to tackle the problem at its source. “We are committed to taking ambitious actions throughout the full life cycle of plastics to end plastic pollution and call on the global community to do the same, with the aspiration to reduce and, as appropriate, restrain the global production and consumption of primary plastic polymers,” environment and energy ministers from the wealthy democracies said in a statement on Tuesday, April 30, at the end of two-day talks in Turin.

Global plastic production has more than doubled in twenty years to 460 million tonnes a year and could triple by 2060 if the current trend continues. With a recycling rate of less than 10% worldwide, the vast majority ends up as waste. Every minute, the equivalent of a garbage truck full of plastic waste is dumped into the oceans. A study, published on April 25 in the journal Science Advances, confirms the direct link between production and plastic pollution: every 1% increase in production is associated with a 1% rise in plastic pollution. Conducted by researchers from a dozen universities, it reveals that more than half of this pollution is produced by 56 multinationals, led by Coca-Cola with its bottles, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Danone.

The “science is clear: we must first address the unsustainable levels of plastic production if we want to end plastic pollution globally,” said French Minister for Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu. While the G7 countries have opened the door to progress, the road ahead remains steep. The fourth and penultimate session of negotiations on a future global treaty to end plastic pollution ended on Tuesday, April 30, in Ottawa, Canada, without incorporating the crucial issue of reducing production into the proposed text. Time is running out. The international community now has a final meeting, in Pusan, South Korea, from November 25 to December 1, hoping to stay on track to adopt a legally binding treaty by the end of 2024, as pledged by 175 countries in March 2022, under the aegis of the United Nations.

Two opposing camps

In a joint declaration signed in Ottawa on Tuesday, 28 governments, including France, called for the future treaty to “draw attention to the need to break the plastic cycle at its source – the production of primary plastic polymers.” Peru and Rwanda, the two leading countries of the so-called “high-ambition” coalition, put a quantified target on the negotiating table: reduce the production of primary polymers (PPP) by 40% of 2025 levels by 2040. However, this motion was not adopted. “The discussion on PPP is very difficult, it’s a point of controversy,” acknowledged Béchu’s spokesperson. “There’s a real fundamental disagreement.”

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