Climate Politics
Why the World Is Divided on Plastic as UN Treaty Talks Restart
A sixth round of negotiations begins in Switzerland as evidence of the material’s harm mounts.
Plastic bottles during a demonstration in front of the United Nations’ offices in Geneva on Aug. 4.
Photographer: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty ImagesAlmost every week seems to bring a new report that plastic is even worse than had been thought for both human and planetary health. This week, it’s a paper in the Lancet that warns of a “grave, growing” danger from the rising tide of the material, and puts its health-related economic costs at more than $1.5 trillion a year.
Yet as diplomats gather in Switzerland to negotiate an international treaty to tackle plastic pollution. the world seems further away from an agreement than it did when this process started three years ago.