Canada is open to the idea of including a requirement to cut back on the production of plastic in a new global treaty to eliminate plastic pollution, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Friday.
But he said that may become one of the biggest sticking points in the negotiations, which are supposed to conclude at the end of next year.
The second round of those talks wrapped up in Paris Friday with an agreement to start drafting the treaty, which is supposed to be ready by the end of 2024. "We need significant cuts to production and we need to ultimately phase out virgin production," said Sarah King, the plastics campaign manager at Greenpeace Canada.
King said Canada has been supportive of restraining production. But she said what the treaty needs is a direct cap on plastic production and a phase-down over time. NDP MP Gord Johns, who successfully pushed a motion in Parliament five years ago calling for a national strategy to address plastic pollution, said Canada needs to be more clear about its position.
In the two years since, Canada's exports of plastic garbage have increased -- mainly to the United States, which is not part of the convention. That means Canada doesn't know what happens to its plastic waste and that it could be shipped to the very developing countries Canada has committed to protecting.
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