High-level officials from more than 170 countries are meeting in Switzerland this week to tackle plastic pollution.
It is the latest in a series of negotiations to secure a global treaty to regulate plastic products, which began in 2022.
Australia is among the nations attending in support of the treaty.
The negotiations are also being attended by hundreds of lobbyists for fossil fuel industries, raising concerns among environmental advocates that they could stall global efforts.
Plastics treaty
At a UN conference in 2022, representatives from 175 countries agreed the world needed a legally binding agreement to address the environmental and health impacts of plastic pollution and waste.
Since then, five negotiation sessions have been held across four continents.
Talks were initially scheduled to conclude in December last year, but stalled when countries failed to reach a consensus.
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Lobbying
The Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL) has warned these negotiations are increasingly being “overrun” by lobbyists.
CIEL said a record number of lobbyists have registered for this year’s session, outnumbering official representatives from participating countries.
“Lobbyists aren’t just pulling strings behind the scenes… [in December] we saw them boldly take the floor, speak in [main sessions], and push their agenda in plain sight,” CIEL Environmental Health Campaigner Rachel Radvany said.
Australia
The Federal Government has confirmed it intends to back the global treaty, saying “no one nation can solve the problem alone.”
Environment Minister Murray Watt said that while Australia is taking action “here at home,” a global agreement would strengthen those efforts.
“We are determined to push for an effective and meaningful global treaty to achieve our goal of ending plastic pollution by 2040,” Watt said.
