More than 12,000 university jobs lost across UK
More than 12,000 university jobs have been cut across the UK in the past year, according to new analysis from the University and College Union (UCU), ...
BUSAN, South Korea (Reuters) -Negotiators on a treaty to curb plastic pollution face tough debate on the last day of scheduled talks, as over 100 countries support curbing production while a handful of oil-producing countries want to focus only on plastic waste.
The fifth and final U.N. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meeting to yield a legally binding global treaty is set to wrap up in Busan, South Korea, on Sunday, but a final plenary session has not been set.
A treaty could be the most significant deal relating to environmental protection as well as climate-warming emissions since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Countries remained far apart on Sunday on the basic scope of the treaty. An option proposed by Panama, backed by over 100 countries, would create a path for a global plastic production reduction target, while another proposal does not include production caps.
"If you're not contributing constructively, and if you're not trying to join us in having an ambitious treaty... then please get out," Fiji's chief negotiator, Climate Minister Sivendra Michael, told a press conference.
A smaller number of petrochemical-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia have strongly opposed efforts to target plastic production and have tried to use procedural tactics to delay negotiations.
Saudi Arabia did not have an immediate comment.
China, the United States, India, South Korea and Saudi Arabia were the top five primary polymer producing nations in 2023, according to data provider Eunomia.
HOURS REMAINING
With just hours remaining for scheduled talks and consensus seemingly out of reach, some negotiators and observers fear the talks could collapse or be extended to another session.
Even if a legally binding treaty is not reached at Busan, "this is a multilateral process that can keep working towards that goal," Mexico's head of delegation, Camila Zepeda, told Reuters.
"We have... a coalition of the willing, over a hundred countries that want this, and we can start working together" on a way forward.
Plastic production is on track to triple by 2050, and microplastics have been found in air, fresh produce and even human breast milk.
The chair of the meeting, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, released a revised document on Sunday that could form the basis of a treaty.
But the text remained peppered with many options on the most divisive issues: capping plastic production, managing plastic products and chemicals of concern, and financing to help developing countries implement the treaty.
Chemicals of concern in plastics include more than 3,200 found according to a 2023 U.N. Environment Programme report, which said women and children were particularly susceptible to their toxicity.
"If it (the text) does not have the provisions of what we expect from an ambitious treaty, then we will.. go back to the same process pushing for an ambitious treaty," Sivendra said.
"Nobody is going to leave Busan with a weak treaty."
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Azerbaijan is stepping up its renewable energy ambitions with plans to develop eight new solar and wind plants by 2027, backed by $2.8 billion in investment and aimed at exceeding its 2030 climate targets ahead of schedule.
On the second day of Baku Climate Action Week (BCAW), attention centred on strengthening international cooperation, accelerating the transition to clean energy, and ensuring a fair and inclusive approach.
Super Typhoon Ragasa lashed Hong Kong with hurricane-force winds and torrential rain on Wednesday.
When Climate Week kicks off in New York City on Sunday (21 September), it will mark the largest event of its kind yet, with organisers reporting a record number of companies participating and more events than ever before.
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