Iran’s plastics industry brings in much-needed foreign currency, which it can use to try and contain runaway inflation
Countries told they can’t afford to miss the opportunity to tackle plastic pollution next year – but can they resolve a row over cutting oil-heavy production?
Representatives of ExxonMobil, Dow, BASF and Sabic are among the oil and petrochemical firms with participants at the INC-5 negotiations in South Korea
Major fossil fuel-producing countries are blamed at negotiations in Busan for opposing curbs on plastic manufacturing, a key market for oil and gas
Rather than just reusing and recycling ever-growing mountains of plastic waste, it’s essential to tackle the problem at the source
With no further talks scheduled on limiting plastic production before final negotiations in November, the treaty may focus instead on recycling
Environment minister Steven Guilbeault accuses “some countries” of slow-walking negotiations, ahead of talks in Ottawa
Countries are considering a global target to curb plastic production, not just focus on recycling as the industry wants
The Banner sisters fought for the preservation of land in America’s ‘Cancer Alley’. They are now in Paris to demand a global cap on plastic production.
Saudi Arabia and a group of emerging economies like China, India and Russia pushed to keep vetoes in plastic treaty talks
After Japan joined the high ambition coalition against plastics production, the US is now the only major developed country not a member
While the EU and African countries push for production cuts, major nations like the US and Saudi Arabia focus instead on recycling and waste disposal
US and Saudi Arabia want a bottom-up deal focused on recycling, while a “high ambition coalition” wants top-down curbs on plastic production
As the world seeks to move beyond burning fossil fuels for energy, the oil sector saw plastic production as a lifeline – but now that’s in doubt too