AFP
The latest negotiations towards a global treaty to combat plastic pollution open in Nairobi on Monday, with tensions expected as nations tussle over what should be included in the pact.
Some 175 countries agreed last year to conclude by 2024 a UN treaty to combat the plastic blighting oceans, floating in the atmosphere, and infiltrating the bodies of animals and humans.
While there is broad consensus a treaty is needed, there are very different opinions about what should be in it.
Negotiators have met twice already but the November 13-19 talks are the first to consider a draft text of the treaty published in September and the policy options it contains.
Around 60 so-called "high ambition" nations have called for binding rules to reduce the use and production of plastic, which is made from fossil fuels, a measure supported by many environmental groups.
It is not a position shared by many plastic-producing economies, including the United States, which have long preferred to focus on recycling, innovation, and better waste management.
The draft presenting the various ways forward will form the basis for the high-stakes deliberations at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi.
With more than 2,000 delegates registered, and advocates from environment and plastic groups also in the room, the negotiations are expected to get heated as the details are hammered out.
Hundreds of climate campaigners, waving placards reading "Plastic crisis = climate crisis", on Saturday marched in Nairobi calling for the talks to focus on cutting the amount of plastic produced.
The meeting to debate the future of plastic comes just before crucial climate talks in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates later this month, where discussions over fossil fuels and their planet-heating emissions are due to dominate the agenda.
AFP
