At plastics treaty talks, geopolitical theater for a polluted material world
A handful of fossil fuel producing countries, petrochemical industries and lobbyists show no interest in a strong, restrictive and legally binding instrument.
U.N. Environment (UNEP)
World on track to breach Paris treaty and head to almost 3° C. of warming
Emissions must decrease 42% by 2030 to keep the 1.5° target alive. Instead, they're expected to rise 3% by then.
Treaty to curb plastic pollution stalled as industry pushes back
Oil and plastic producing nations and lobbyists sought more emphasis on recycling instead of production cuts.
Plastic pollution treaty targets production or waste management
This is the third round of talks to develop an international legally binding deal that includes plastic waste in the ocean.
Nations seeking to expand fossil fuel production despite climate pledges
Government plans would blow past limits needed to limit warming to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
As climate adaptation costs rise, so do the potential life-saving benefits
Two U.N. reports show how that more climate aid for developing nations could reduce the millions of deaths a year from climate shocks.
U.N.-led transfer of oil averts disaster off Yemen's Red Sea coast
The ship-to-ship transfer extracted as much of the 1.14 million barrels of oil as possible, leaving under 2% aboard.
Global climate litigation to force action more than doubles in 5 years
As climate litigation increases, the body of legal precedent grows, forming an increasingly well-defined field of law.
U.N. starts unloading oil from Yemen tanker to prevent disaster
Without U.N. intervention, the tanker could have released as much as four times the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez in 1989.
Paris summit approves drafting global plastic pollution treaty
The summit ended with support for creating a "zero draft" treaty ahead of the next negotiations at Nairobi in November.
Talks open on plastics treaty to defuse environmental 'time bomb'
About 69% of all the plastics produced, mainly through fossil fuel burning, are used just once or twice before they are thrown away. About 22% is mismanaged. Just 9% is recycled.
U.N. proposes global 'roadmap' to 80% cut in plastic pollution by 2040
The estimated annual social and environmental costs of plastic pollution range from US$300 billion to $US1.5 trillion.
Global talks kick off on hazardous chemicals and waste management
Virtually all the world's nations are negotiating proposals under the legally binding Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions to limit toxic chemicals, pollutants and wastes.
U.N. panel prepares last report of series to shape climate policy
The head of the U.N.'s Nobel Prize-winning panel of climate experts called for quick action because "make no mistake, inaction and delays are not listed as options."
U.N. agrees to buy $55M crude carrier for removing stranded oil
The stranded supertanker FSO Safer has been moored off the coast of Yemen – toward the end of a pipeline to the oil and gas fields near Marib city – and nearly sank in 2020.
Pollution, climate change feed drug-resistant 'superbugs'
Fed by pollution and climate change, strains of bacteria immune to all known antibiotics may become a major cause of death by mid-century, says the U.N. environment agency.