Plastisphere: A podcast on plastic pollution in the environment Anja Krieger

It's Monday, April 29, 2024, and the INC4, the fourth round of negotiations for the plastics treaty, is in the final hours. Negotiators of countries from around the world are sitting in conference rooms in Ottawa, Canada, debating how to end plastic pollution. Around them, the presence of the fossil and chemical industries has grown significantly. Compared to the last meeting in Nairobi 37 percent more lobbyists are attending. The effort to quantify this lobby presence was led by CIEL, the Center for International Environmental Law. In a press conference that Plastisphere is sharing with this episode, the NGO brought together speakers from Greenpeace, the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, and the Indigenous Peoples Caucus. It’s a very impressive hour. For context, one of the First Nations in Canada just had to declare a state of emergency: A plastics plant in their vicinity had released chemicals into their environment. This is just one of the incidents that points to the burden frontline communities living close to production and disposal facilities are carrying around the world. So environmental justice is a huge issue when it comes to plastic pollution.

Hear more from the panel:
- Delphine Levi Alvares, Global Petrochemical Campaign Coordinator at CIEL
- Laura Salgado, Head of Campaign and Partnership at GGTC
- Graham Forbes, Head of Delegation, Greenpeace International
- Yuyun Ismawati, Convenor of the Indonesian Zero Waste Alliance (AZWI)
- Suzanne Smoke, Indigenous Knowledge Keeper from the Indigenous Peoples Caucus
- Bethanie Carney-Almroth, professor in ecotoxicology at Gothenburg University and Member of the Scientists’ Coalition For An Effective Plastic Treaty

CIEL's analysis of lobby attendance at INC4 was carried out in collaboration with Greenpeace, the Break Free From Plastic movement, the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), and the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC).

Here's the link: https://www.ciel.org/news/fossil-fuel-and-chemical-industry-influence-inc4/

In this episode we focus on one of the biggest countries in Asia - India. India just passed its Plastic Overshoot day on April 23. India is the world's third largest contributor to plastic waste after China and the United States – but it also has a huge population, 1.4 billion people. So per capita, Indians produce only small amounts of plastic waste - much less than a person in Belgium, for example.
What has been India’s position in the plastics treaty talks? Is the country on the right track to tackle the pollution? In this guest episode, you'll hear an excerpt from the podcast "In Focus" by The Hindu. It's hosted by G. Sampath, the Social Affairs Editor of The Hindu, who speaks with Satyarupa Shekhar, a public policy advocate who works on urban governance, data justice, and plastics pollution. Satyarupa tells us more about India's positions on the global plastic treaty. Besides its opposition to a majority voting option - a huge issue hindering the progress of the negotiations - what kind of treaty does India envision?

Links:

Listen to the full episode on The Hindu: https://www.thehindu.com/podcast/where-does-india-stand-in-the-global-plastics-treaty-negotiations-in-focus-podcast/article68032094.ece

Listen to "In Focus" on your favorite app: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/in-focus-by-the-hindu/id1494440867

Read India's country profile in the 2024 Plastic Overshoot report (page 138): https://plasticovershoot.earth/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/EA_POD_report_2024.pdf

Read more about the chemicals in plastics in the PlastChem report: https://plastchem-project.org/

In March 2024, negotiators and experts came together in Bellagio, Italy, for an exclusive meeting to discuss an essential topic: Plastic money. And we’re not talking about credit cards here, but the actual money we people around the world are paying for the production of plastics through our governments’ subsidies. Ronald Steenblik was the one who made me aware of this issue. He’s worked on subsidies to fossil fuels for over 30 years, and was the Special Counsellor for Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform at the OECD - the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Today, Ron works with the Quaker United Nations Office QUNO. Together with his colleagues and other plastic experts, he organized the meeting in Bellagio to shine a light on the issue of plastic subsidies. This meeting was co-organized and supported by CIEL, the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and The Rockefeller Foundation.

I met with Ron and his colleague Andrés Naranjo, and they brought along Alexandra Harrington from Lancaster University Law School. She also chairs the Plastic Pollution Task Force of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law. Learn more from them about plastic subsidies in this episode!

Transcript: https://anjakrieger.com/plastisphere/2024/04/19/plastic-subsidies-transcript/

Links:
- Briefing by CIEL on plastic subsidies: https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Tackling-Subsidies-for-Plastic-Production_FINAL.pdf
- Report by QUNO on the Bellagio convening: https://quno.org/timeline/2024/4/quno-hosts-meeting-minds-plastic-pollution-bellagio

What happened at the INC-3 in Kenya? Recap 3/3.

“If a credible majority of states can come together and adopt global rules to prevent plastic pollution, they can also do the similar things on climate change, on biological diversity, and indeed also other issues of environmental and global concern,” Magnus Løvold says. He was present as an observer at all negotiation meetings towards the #PlasticsTreaty and shares the story so far on the podcast - a game with shaky rules. How will the saga continue? Will we see courageous states stepping up to stop plastic pollution? Stay tuned!

If you like this show, support the production! Go to anjakrieger.com/plastisphere/support/

Read „Points of Order" - independent reporting on multilateral processes, treaty-making and diplomacy" by Magnus Løvold and Torbjørn Graff Hugo: medium.com/points-of-order

Music: Dorian Roy
Cover art: Maren von Stockhausen
All production: Anja Krieger

What happened at the INC-2 in France? Recap 2/3.

The negotiations for the global plastics treaty are haunted by major issues that have long stalled progress on other problems as well, like climate change and biodiversity loss. To understand what’s happening, Anja teamed up with Magnus Løvold, an expert in diplomacy and international law. Magnus was present at all the meetings of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee for the plastics treaty - the so-called “INC”. Here comes the second part of their recap of plastic diplomacy: They take you to Paris in the summer of 2023, where the second negotiating meeting took place, to learn what happened there.

A note: If you haven’t listened to our recap of the first INC in Uruguay, we recommend to go back an episode and start listening there.

Episode transcript: https://anjakrieger.com/plastisphere/2024/04/01/transcript-plastic-treaty-making-part2/

Music: Dorian Roy
Cover art: Maren von Stockhausen
All production: Anja Krieger

What happened at the INC-1 in Uruguay? Recap 1/3.

This year, 2024, is the crucial year for the plastics treaty negotiations. If you haven’t heard about them, the United Nations are working on an international, legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution. It’s been called the most important environmental deal since the Paris climate accord.

Many countries want it to be an ambitious agreement that covers the full lifecycle of plastics, from production to disposal. But some countries are not so keen on this, and they have held up the development of the treaty. How and why exactly did they do this, and is there still hope for a strong and effective international agreement?

To explore this, Anja connected with Magnus Løvold, an expert in Peace and Conflict Studies, and advisor with Lex International and NAIL, the Norwegian Academy of International Law. In his blog „Points of Order“, Magnus describes his observations at the diplomatic meetings he attends.

This is the first of three parts of the conversation. Magnus and Anja will take you back into each meeting of the treaty negotiations - INC-1 in Uruguay, INC-2 in France and INC-3 in Kenya. We’ll talk diplomacy and give you a better understanding of what’s going on on the international stage.

Read our guest's blog: "Points of Order" - independent reporting on multilateral processes, treaty-making and diplomacy" by Magnus Løvold and Torbjørn Graff Hugo: https://medium.com/points-of-order

Episode transcript: https://anjakrieger.com/plastisphere/2024/03/08/transcript-plastic-treaty-making-part1/
Music: Dorian Roy
Cover: Maren von Stockhausen

If you like this show, support the production! Go to https://anjakrieger.com/plastisphere/support/