China’s resale home prices fall faster in June, signalling continued property market distress
China’s resale home prices fell at an accelerated pace in June, deepening concerns about the country’s ailing property market and underscoring the...
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."
The U.S. economy faces a 40% risk of recession in the second half of 2025, JP Morgan analysts said on Wednesday, citing rising tariffs and stagflation concerns.
China has ramped up efforts to protect communities impacted by flood control measures, introducing stronger compensation policies and direct aid from the central government.
Severe rain in Venezuela has caused rivers to overflow and triggered landslides, sweeping away homes and collapsing a highway bridge, with five states affected and no casualties reported so far.
A malfunction in the radar transmission system at the Area Control Center in Milan suspended more than 300 flights at the weekend, across northwest Italy since Saturday evening according to Italy's air traffic controller Enav (National Agency for Flight Assistance).
Thousands of protesters rallied in Bangkok on Saturday, demanding Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra resign as political and economic tensions mount.
Following a deadly glacier collapse in Blatten, near the Swiss Alpine village of Kandersteg, the town is on high alert as melting permafrost and shifting rock threaten another potential disaster after it was buried a month ago.
The Russian government has approved the creation of the Black Sea State Nature Biosphere Reserve, according to a decree published Sunday on the government’s official website. Black Sea Biosphere Reserve is the largest nature reserve in Ukraine which is now under Russian occupation.
Over a third of Tuvalu's population has applied for Australia's climate visa, as rising sea levels threaten to submerge the Pacific nation within decades.
Heatwaves gripping Europe have pushed temperatures above 40°C, fueling wildfires and triggering weather alerts across several countries.
Greek firefighters are battling a large wildfire south of Athens as the country faces its first major heat wave of the summer, with temperatures nearing 40°C and strong winds fuelling the flames.
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