Saudi Arabia Leads Pushback Against Global Plastic Treaty- The New Y…
Nov. 30, 2024, 10:58 a.m. ET
Delegates from more than 170 countries are working to salvage a treaty that would tackle the growing problem of plastic pollution.
A week after Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, was accused of being a “wrecking ball” jeopardizing global climate talks,Saudi officials are leading an effort to block a United Nations deal to tackle plastic pollution, negotiators said.
Delegates from more than 170 nations have been engaged in tense negotiations in Busan, South Korea, to draft a global plastic treaty that addresses the growing problem of plastic waste.
Saudi Arabia, Russia and other producers of petroleum, which is used to make most of the world’s plastic, have pushed back against measures that would address plastic pollution by placing curbs on excessive plastic production.The Saudis and their allies have also said they oppose any treaty that would start to list and phase out chemicals present in plastic that are thought to be harmful to health.
In closed-door negotiations late Saturday, Saudi Arabia, along with other nations, was pushing to delete entire paragraphs from the treaty text on who should finance the costs of implementing the agreement, according to a delegate with direct knowledge of the proceedings.
Saudi delegates had argued in their submissions to the negotiations that tackling supply “penalizes industries without addressing the actual issue of plastic pollution.”
Delegates and observers have said that throughout the talks, theSaudis have insisted on unanimity for every decisionand have raised frequent objections over procedure, slowing down progress.
When a Brazilian delegate who coleads a critical subgroup suggested that negotiators hold informal discussions over lunch to make up for lost time, for example,the Saudi delegate insisted that the Brazilian did not have a mandate to call for lunchtime talks, according to multiple people with knowledge of the exchange.
The Saudi delegation did not respond to requests for comment.
The slow pace has prompted rare public rebukes by delegates in Busan, where negotiations are in the final stretch. The U.N.-led talks, which kicked off in 2022, are scheduled to end on Sunday.
“We have seen countries trying to delay negotiation. This is unacceptable,” José Ramón Reyes López, a delegate for the Dominican Republic, said at a midweek session.
Mauricio Cabrera Leal, Colombia’s vice minister of environment, said a number of parties were delaying discussions.They are “leading us down a path which will not enable us to reach constructive agreement,” he said.
Neither Mr. Leal nor Mr. López specified which countries. Still, delegates aligned with the Saudis quickly responded.
Salman Alajmi, a delegate from Kuwait, said they had “gathered here in good faith” and were “fully committed” to an ambitious plastic treaty. But he said members of his bloc were “the ones being labeled as the blockers of the process when it is evidently the other way around.”
“We shouldn’t sacrifice the inclusiveness and the durability and the soundness of this agreement, just because we are pressed for time,” said Abdulrahman Al Gwaiz, a delegate from Saudi Arabia.
The fight over the future of plastics comes at a time when crude oil demand is expected to peak and then slow as the rise of electric cars starts to reduce demand for fuel. That makes plastics, which are derived from petroleum, an increasingly critical industry for oil-exporting nations.
As the world’s largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia is especially sensitive to that transition. The kingdom’s Vision 2030, an overarching plan to diversify its economy beyond crude oil, positions petrochemicals as a promising growth industry. In its annual report, Saudi Aramco, the national oil company, lists “increased concerns regarding the safe use of chemicals and plastics and their potential impact on the environment” and the “restrictive regulations” those concerns may spur as risks to its business.
According to a U.N. attendees list, two members of the Saudi delegation are employees of the kingdom’s Oil Demand Sustainability Program, which was set up to stimulate oil demand amid an energy transition…
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