Pray for a plastics treaty
This morning one of the first things I did after waking up was to take a soft-drink cup from my son’s bedroom and throw it in the kitchen trash. I didn’t even think about this action until I sat down with my computer and read about a plastics treaty being negotiated this week, from April 23-29, in Ottawa, Canada.
The negotiations are part of a United Nations process that has also included discussions in Paris and Nairobi. These talks have already made tremendous progress. According to this helpful overview article, in March, 2022, nearly 200 nations agreed to create a legally binding plastics treaty by the end of 2024. The talks that are happening right now in Ottawa will conclude in South Korea in November.
The scope of the problem
Much is riding on the negotiations this week. I don’t need to give you a bunch of statistics to help you understand the problem. I think we’re all aware that the world faces a huge plastics crisis. We just don’t know what we can do about it. Like the plastic lid and straw I threw into the trash this morning, plastics are part of our lives.
One interesting industry coalition video
and website argue for rules in this treaty that will make the playing field clearer for businesses, so companies will know how to invest and plan. Their recommendations give a glimpse into the dimensions of the discussions underway this week. Their position papers cover: restrictions on the types of plastics that can be produced, policies to increase the reuse of products and limit one-time use, redesign of products to make them more recyclable, guidelines to make plastic producers more responsible for their actions, and recommendations for plastic waste management.
Competing interests
Apparently, some countries, like Norway and Rwanda, are pressing for an ambitious treaty that mandates restrictions in all of these areas while others want a milder agreement that focuses mainly on plastic waste. Complicating the discussions is the presence of at least 140 plastics industry lobbyists. Some argue that their participation is helpful because the plastics industry needs to buy into the final treaty, while others say that these well-funded voices drown out the representatives from smaller countries.
One way to respond to these competing interests is to bring these negotiations before God, and ask the creator of the universe to move in the midst of an imperfect process to help us humans limit the damage done by plastics. Some of my friends in YWAM have asked people to pray, and they have collected the research I’ve shared with you here.
So please join me in prayer for an ambitious agreement this week that helps free the globe from the plastics mess.