The Know Daily - Wednesday 24 April 2024

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Pine martens could soon return to Dartmoor, more than a century after they disappeared due to habitat loss and hunting. The elusive creatures - once one of England’s most common mammals - are regarded as key to healthy woodland ecosystems.

🤝 Ending plastic pollution

Crucial negotiations have begun in Ottawa, Canada to agree a global treaty on ending plastic pollution.

What’s the background? 
In March 2022, nearly 200 countries endorsed an historic agreement to develop a global and legally binding treaty by the end of 2024.

But previous negotiations in Nairobi, Kenya stalled last November. As The Guardian explains, this is because oil-producing nations pushed to focus on waste management, rather than on scaling down plastic production (an estimated 98% of single-use plastics are made from fossil fuels). However, other so-called ‘high-ambition’ countries argue that cutting down production is necessary to tackle plastic pollution. 

Will these talks face similar issues?
Almost certainly. As The Conversation reports, there remains a “broad division” between countries, so it’s unclear where the treaty will land. An ambitious treaty would introduce binding measures focusing on all stages of the plastics life cycle - whereas a weaker one would see voluntary measures focusing mainly on waste management. 

Why is a treaty needed?
Plastic production accounts for some 5% of climate emissions - and this could grow to 20% by 2050, according to a new report. And beyond the problem of pollution, there is also growing attention on the way microplastics may affect human health, said The Guardian. 

The chair of the negotiations, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, told the paper that while there were treaties in place to address climate change and biodiversity loss, “we have no legislation, no global agreement on plastic pollution”. 

So will an agreement be reached?
Valdivieso said that while it would be challenging, he was confident that the talks would lead to the signing next year of the first legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, adding: “compromise is an important word”. 

And if governments can agree on a treaty that reduces how much plastic is produced, it could become “the most significant pact to address global climate-warming emissions since the 2015 Paris Agreement”, said Reuters.