“It looks like a petrochemical fair!” » Present in Pusan (South Korea) to participate in the last session of negotiations for a global treaty aimed at ending plastic pollution, the deputy (MoDem, Maine-et-Loire) Philippe Bolo, author of several reference reports on this “time bomb”He does not hide his astonishment. At least 220 representatives of the fossil and chemical industries are accredited, according to a count by the International Center for International Environmental Law. This is more than the representatives of the European Union and all its member states (191).
Sixteen were identified within the national delegations (China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Egypt, Finland, etc.). The powerful American Chemistry Council, which defends the interests of the chemical industry and, in particular, the plastics industry in the United States, has sent no less than seven lobbyists to South Korea. American multinationals are also present, with five and four emissaries respectively from the chemical giant Dow and the great ExxonMobil.
Britain’s Ineos, Germany’s BASF and France’s Arkema sent two members each. In the halls of the Pusan Exhibition and Congress Center we also met lobbyists from the Swiss food giant Nestlé and the European lobby group Plastics Europe. The presence of petrochemical industry lobbyists has continued to strengthen since the start of negotiations two years ago: 143 in Nairobi in November 2023, 196 in Ottawa in April 2024.
“Masquerade”
“Allowing petrochemical companies to influence these negotiations is like letting the foxes watch the henhouse.”Von Hernández, coordinator of the international network Break Free From Plastic, reacts. Their enormous presence threatens to turn a crucial environmental agreement into a farce, undermining serious efforts to reduce plastic production and therefore pollution. » Philippe Bolo points out that “However, the interests of these companies are already well represented by a handful of countries that, under the pretext of interventions that denounce the form and substance of the debates, in fact reject the principle of an international treaty against plastic pollution.”
With three days to go until the end of negotiations, scheduled for Sunday, December 1, discussions on the crucial issue of plastic production remain stalled. At the current rate, this figure is expected to double by 2050, reaching one billion tons per year. Most countries led by the High Ambition Coalition – which includes the European Union – support a treaty that sets reduction targets.
You have 53.78% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
