How [Not] to Make a Plastics Treaty - Phantom of the Ottawa (INC-4 in Canada)

How [Not] to Make a Plastics Treaty - Phantom of the Ottawa (INC-4 in Canada)

Author: Anja Krieger September 22, 2024 Duration: 59:47
The final meeting to negotiate the global plastics treaty is coming up this winter. But if you’ve listened to previous episodes of our series, you know that little progress had been made in the first three INCs. At the negotiations in Uruguay, France, and Kenya, strategic games were played. They held up the process and sabotaged the road to an ambitious and binding treaty. Now, in the run-up to the final round of negotiations in November and December in the city of Busan, in Korea - the INC-5 - we’re taking a closer look at what happened last in Ottawa. And who else could explain the INC-4 better than Magnus Løvold? He’s an expert in international treaties from the Norwegian Academy of International Law, and has attended all the meetings in person. +++If you enjoy this series, please support the production! Go to https://anjakrieger.com/plastisphere/support/ to find out more.+++ In this episode, we are discussing clips from the live-stream of the previous meeting. You’ll get to hear from Jyoti Mathur-Filipp (Executive Secretary of the Negotiating Committee), Luis Vayas Valdivieso (INC Chair), Inger Andersen (Executive Director of UNEP), a representative of the BreakFreeFromPlastic Youth, Janelle Nahmabin (Society of Native Nations), Patrick Umuhoza (representative of Rwanda), and the Representative of Fiji. For more insights on Ottawa, go to the Indisposable Podcast and listen to Jamala Djinn, Policy Advisor for Break Free From Plastic, and Rachel Radvany, Environmental Health Campaigner for the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL): https://upstreamsolutions.org/podcast/toward-a-global-plastics-treaty

Anja Krieger hosts Plastisphere: A podcast on plastic pollution in the environment, a series that digs into the complex story of synthetic polymers. This isn't just a catalog of environmental damage, though that reality is confronted directly. Instead, the podcast carefully examines how these materials, foundational to contemporary life, now permeate every corner of the natural world and our own bodies. Anja guides listeners through a nuanced exploration, asking whether a sustainable coexistence is even possible. She doesn't provide easy answers but facilitates necessary conversations, bringing together researchers, activists, industry insiders, and communities on the front lines. Each episode is built on specific stories and scientific insights, moving from the deep ocean to human bloodstreams to policy halls. You'll hear about the chemistry of plastics, their journey as waste, and the cultural and economic systems that perpetuate their use. The strength of this podcast lies in its commitment to presenting a genuine spectrum of perspectives, avoiding simple blame in favor of understanding a truly global dilemma. It’s a thoughtful, sometimes surprising, and always human-centered look at one of the most defining material challenges of our time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 67

Plastisphere: A podcast on plastic pollution in the environment
Podcast Episodes
How [Not] To Make A Plastics Treaty - The Mysterious Midnight Meeting [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:26
It's 2026, and we still don't have a plastics treaty. Will we get one, what kind, and when? All of that is up in the air at this point. And after the failed round of negotiations last summer in Geneva, some strange insig…
Tackling Plastic Production: Why and How to Do It [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:52
It's the elephant in the room: The growth of plastic production and how that contributes to pollution. In this episode, we're taking a look at why it's important to not only tackle the waste plastic causes, but also the…
Beyond Recycling - The Many Meanings of the Circular Economy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:22
When we speak about plastic pollution, a central idea to solve it is that of the circular economy. And when this idea of circularity is mentioned, recycling is often the first thing that comes to mind. But recycling is j…
Guilt-free plastics? The idea of plastic credits and its realities [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:40
Wouldn’t it be great to have something like guilt-free plastics? A plastic product you can just buy without worrying that you are contributing to pollution in the environment? That’s the promise of plastic credits. The i…
Plastic Pollution in Turkey, from Biology to Waste Trade [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:20
In this episode we’ll travel to Turkey with Sedat Gündogdu. Sedat is a Turkish marine biologist and works as a professor at Cukurova University in Adana. When Sedat realized how much plastic trash was polluting the water…