Plastic pollution talks: the key sticking points

Nations gathered in Busan, South Korea have a week to agree on the world’s first treaty to curb plastic pollution, a gargantuan challenge given the major divisions that remain.

Consensus is the standard for many UN agreements, but it has also hamstrung progress on other accords, notably climate.

To avoid gumming up discussions, negotiations are proceeding without resolving this question.

But that creates something of a landmine that could detonate at any point during the talks, particularly if countries feel they are losing ground, warned Bjorn Beeler, executive director of the International Pollutants Elimination Network.

“Because of the consensus decision-making process, the oil states could still blow up the potential final deal,” he told AFP.

Read the full story from AFP/France24.