Countries on Saturday elected Chile’s chief climate negotiator to lead stalled talks aimed at securing a landmark global treaty to combat plastic pollution.
Career diplomat Julio Cordano was chosen at a meeting in Geneva after a protracted and divisive selection process.
“Plastic pollution is a planetary problem that affects everyone — every country, every community and every individual,” Cordano said after his election. “A treaty is urgently needed.”
More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced worldwide each year, around half of it for single-use products. Plastic pollution has become so pervasive that microplastics have been detected on the highest mountain peaks and in the deepest ocean trenches.
Talks intended to finalise a treaty in South Korea in 2024 ended without agreement, while a renewed effort in Geneva last August also collapsed.
The previous chair of the negotiations, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, stepped down in October.
A total of 156 countries gathered in Geneva on Saturday to select a new chair from three candidates, exposing deep divisions among negotiating blocs.
A large group of countries is pushing for ambitious measures, including limits on plastic production, while a smaller group of oil-producing states favours a narrower focus on waste management.
The negotiations have operated on a consensus basis—a goal that has proven elusive as small island states overwhelmed by marine plastic clash with oil-producing nations advocating opposing priorities.
Protracted process
Saturday’s one-day meeting was convened solely to elect a new chair.
Several countries, led by Kuwait and supported by other oil-producing nations, sought additional time to allow candidates to lobby diplomats in an attempt to reach consensus.
Other delegations accused them of deliberately delaying the process. Antigua and Barbuda described the move as “an attempt to protract the process”.
After two hours of inconclusive consultations, the matter was put to a vote.
Cordano secured victory in two rounds of voting, defeating candidates from Senegal and Pakistan.
