BREAKING Veteran TSN sportscaster Darren Dutchyshen has died
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57.
For the first time, negotiators from most of the world's nations are discussing the text of what is supposed to become a global treaty to end plastic pollution.
Delegates and observers at the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution called it a welcome sign that talk has shifted from ideas to treaty language at this fourth of five scheduled plastics summits.
Most contentious is the idea of limiting how much plastic is manufactured globally. Currently, that remains in the text over the strong objections of plastic-producing countries and companies and oil and gas exporters. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels and chemicals.
The Ottawa session was scheduled to end late Monday or early Tuesday. On Monday night there could sharp discussion over whether this question of plastic production is a focus for working groups before the next and final meeting.
Stewart Harris, an industry spokesperson with the International Council of Chemical Associations, said the members want a treaty that focuses on recycling plastic and reuse, sometimes referred to as "circularity."
"We want to see the treaty completed," Harris said. "We want to work with the governments on implementing it. The private sector has a role to play."
Dozens of scientists from the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty came to the meeting to provide scientific evidence on plastic pollution to negotiators, in part, they said, to dispel misinformation.
"I heard yesterday that there's no data on microplastics, which is verifiably false: 21,000 publications on micro and nanoplastics have been published," said Bethanie Carney Almroth, an ecotoxicology professor at Sweden's University of Gothenburg who co-leads the coalition. "It's like Whac-A-Mole."
She said scientists were being harassed and intimidated by lobbyists and she reported to the UN that a lobbyist yelled in her face at a meeting.
Despite their differences, the countries represented share a common vision to move forward in the treaty process, Ecuador's chief negotiator, Walter Schuldt said.
"Because at the end of the day, we're talking about the survival of the future of life, not only of human life but all sorts of life on this planet," he said in an interview.
He said he was proud to participate, to contribute his "grain of sand" to global action to address an environmental crisis.
Negotiators aim to conclude a treaty by the end of 2024. Topics assigned to expert working groups by tonight will advance into the final round of talks in the fall in South Korea.
Without this preparation work between meetings, it would be daunting to complete the negotiations this year. Multiple countries said Sunday night they're committed to working in between meetings.
The treaty talks began in Uruguay in December 2022 after Rwanda and Peru proposed the resolution that launched the process in March 2022.
Progress was slow during Paris talks in May 2023 and in Nairobi in November as countries debated rules for the process.
When thousands of negotiators and observers arrived in Ottawa, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, the committee chair from Ecuador, reminded them of their purpose, asking them to be ambitious.
"The world is counting on us to deliver a new treaty that will catalyze and guide the actions, and international cooperation needed to deliver a future free of plastic pollution," he said. "Let us not fail them."
The delegates have been discussing not only the scope of the treaty, but chemicals of concern, problematic and avoidable plastics, product design, and financing and implementation.
Delegates also streamlined the unwieldy collection of options that emerged from the last meeting.
Many travelled to Ottawa from communities affected by plastic manufacturing and pollution. Louisiana and Texas residents who live near petrochemical plants and refineries handed out postcards aimed at the U.S. State Department saying, "Wish you were here."
They travelled together as a group from the Break Free From Plastic movement, and asked negotiators to visit their states to experience the air and water pollution firsthand.
"This is still the best option we have to see change in our communities. They're so captured by corporations. I can't go to the parish government," said Jo Banner, of the St. John the Baptist Parish in Louisiana. "It feels this is the only chance and hope I have of helping my community repair from this, to heal."
Members of an Indigenous Peoples' Caucus held a press conference Saturday to say microplastics are contaminating their food supply and the pollution threatens their communities and ways of life guaranteed to them in perpetuity. They felt their voices weren't being heard.
"We have bigger stakes. These are our ancestral lands that are being polluted with plastic," Juressa Lee, of New Zealand, said after the event. "We're rightsholders, not stakeholders. We should have more space to speak and make decisions than the people causing the problem."
Traditionally, there was no plastic, but now in the Bay of Plenty, their source of seafood, the sediment and shellfish are full of tiny plastic particles. They regard nature's "resources" as treasures, Lee added.
"Indigenous ways can lead the way," Lee said. "What we're doing now clearly is not working."
Vi Waghiyi traveled from Alaska to represent Arctic Indigenous peoples. She's reminding decision-makers that this treaty must protect people from plastic pollution for generations to come.
She said, "We come here to be the conscience, to ensure they make the right decision for all people."
------
The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57.
A Montreal father who kidnapped his daughter who has autism and lied to police when they asked where she was should serve three years in prison, a Crown prosecutor said.
Many Canadians found a message from the Canada Revenue Agency this week as they received their first direct deposit for the Canada Carbon Rebate.
Although a global workers' treaty has been in force in Canada since January, an employment lawyer believes it won't do anything more to protect employees from violence and harassment.
The Saskatchewan RCMP wants you to know it’s not targeting drive-thrus to ticket people for using their fast food reward apps.
Auto technology has evolved and many newer cars use wireless key fobs and push-button starters instead of traditional metal keys. But that technology also makes things easier for thieves.
The Slovak interior minister said Thursday that a 'lone wolf' has been charged in the shooting that seriously wounded Prime Minister Robert Fico.
A man from B.C.'s Lower Mainland has been sentenced to four years behind bars after shooting a sex worker in the back during a drug-fuelled 43rd birthday.
The details of a 16-month Durham police investigation into Ontario’s so-called ‘Crypto King’ Aiden Pleterski are set to be revealed on Thursday afternoon.
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.