More than 200 industry lobbyists are attending the UN\u2019s meeting to hammer out a global plastics treaty, raising fears that moves to prevent runaway plastic production may be undermined.<\/p>\n
The 234 lobbyists from the oil, petrochemical and plastics industries outnumber the combined delegations of all 27 EU member states, and far exceed the number of people attending with the delegation of scientists as well as Indigenous peoples at the Geneva talks.<\/p>\n
The analysis<\/a>, from the Centre for International Environmental Law (Ciel), also found 19 lobbyists sit on the national delegations of Egypt, Kazakhstan, China, Iran, Chile and the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n \u201cFossil fuel companies are central to plastic production, as over 99% of plastics are derived from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels,\u201d said Ximena Banegas, Ciel\u2019s global plastics and petrochemicals campaigner. \u201cAfter decades of obstruction in the climate negotiations, why would anyone think that they would suddenly show up in good faith in the plastics treaty talks?\u201d<\/p>\n The figure was revealed on day three of a two-week resumed meeting to achieve an agreement on the vast global problem of runaway plastic production and waste. The numbers of lobbyists attending the talks has been rising steadily since the process started in 2022, alongside deepening rifts between nations.<\/p>\n Negotiations stalled at what was supposed to be the fifth and final round of talks in Busan<\/a>, South Korea, in December last year. The process was extended to the current round in Switzerland to give nations another chance to agree on a deal. Tensions have flared around key aspects of the proposed treaty, including calls for a production limit on plastics, managing harmful chemicals in plastics, and how the treaty\u2019s implementation will be financed, with countries splitting into increasingly divergent camps.<\/p>\n Green activists make their feelings known outside the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Photograph: James Wakibia\/SOPA Images\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n On the one hand is a cohort of more than 100 nations that say they want an ambitious treaty including, among other things, global targets to reduce plastic production. On the other is a small group of oil and plastic-producing states including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran \u2013 the so-called \u201clike-minded group\u201d \u2013 that reject production limits and want the treaty to focus on downstream measures to tackle waste.<\/p>\n Three days into negotiations, these separate camps seem to be further entrenched, with the United States appearing to side with the industry-friendly \u201clike-minded group\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re basically going full Maga,\u201d said a source close to the talks. \u201cThey\u2019re clearly coordinating with Saudi Arabia, Russia and others, because they\u2019re using the same language.\u201d Before the meeting in Geneva, the US reportedly<\/a> circulated a memo among countries where it openly took a stance against production cuts. The US is the world\u2019s second-largest plastic producer and yet last year said it supported production cuts.<\/p>\n The source also noted that the US delegation usually met environmental NGOs, scientists and industry before the talks begin, but that before the Geneva meeting they had met with industry alone.<\/p>\n \u201cEven under a Democratic administration, the US is incredibly industry-friendly, but it at least goes through the motions of consulting with its own citizenry,\u201d they said. \u201cThat charade is gone now.\u201d<\/p>\n Two days before Ciel\u2019s estimate was released, the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), an industry trade body, released their own statement saying that they had 136 representatives of the plastic, petrochemical and chemical manufacturing industries present at the talks.<\/p>\n Referring to their headcount, an ICCA spokesperson said: \u201cWe are significantly outnumbered by the more than 1,500 NGO participants.\u201d However, civil society groups say this is a false comparison, as lobbyists have comparatively more power at the talks. Ciel\u2019s analysis shows several lobbyists appear on government delegations from where they can actively sculpt the treaty text. Their impact is also felt on the outside, as even the lobbyists who attend only as negotiation observers \u2013 a group that includes industry representatives, civil society organisations and scientists \u2013 have \u201cprivileged access\u201d<\/a> to delegates, for example, through industry-sponsored unofficial side events that are common in the margins of the talks.<\/p>\n Jo Banner, who is part of the US civil society environmental justice delegation, and lives in Louisiana\u2019s petrochemical industry hub known as \u201cCancer Alley\u201d<\/a>, highlights the disconnect between the lobbying work that industry representatives will do in Geneva and the harms that this ultimately leads to on the ground.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just a job for them. This is about their 401(k)s and their retirement plans. It\u2019s life or death for us and I don\u2019t want my obituary to be part of their resum\u00e9. We\u2019re here fighting to protect our communities. It\u2019s beyond being a job for us.\u201d<\/p>\n