Major oil companies and key oil-producing nations are influencing U.N. discussions on tackling plastic pollution, promoting recycling over production cuts.
Michael Copley and Julia Simon report for NPR.
In short:
- Oil giants like ExxonMobil seek to guide U.N. plastic treaty talks toward maintaining plastic production rather than curbing it.
- Industry and nations with oil interests push recycling as the solution.
- Calls for cutting plastic production are being overshadowed.
Key quote:
"The worst-case scenario is that some of the oil- and gas-producing countries would say, 'This is so [diametrically opposed] to our interests, we will drop out.'"
— Carsten Wachholz, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Why this matters:
The involvement of fossil fuel groups in shaping the treaty could significantly impact global health and environmental policies. Industry is pushing for inclusion of chemical recycling as a solution to the plastics crisis, but a recent report found the process is polluting, energy-intensive and inefficient.
Question for the reader:
How do you think the involvement of fossil fuel industries will affect the outcome of the plastic pollution treaty?
AI-based tools helped produce this text, with human oversight and editing.
