BUSAN, South Korea, Nov 30, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Diplomats warned Saturday that a 
majority of countries could walk away from talks on the world's first plastic 
pollution agreement if a handful of delegations continue resisting calls to 
compromise.

Nearly 200 countries are in South Korea's Busan for negotiations on a deal to 
curb plastic pollution.

But efforts to reach the landmark agreement are locked over several key 
sticking points, particularly reducing production and phasing out chemicals 
believed or known to harm human health.

Over 100 countries back those measures, and insist a treaty without them will 
fail to solve the pollution crisis.

But around a dozen nations -- mostly producers of plastic precursors derived 
from fossil fuels -- are strongly opposed.

As a result, just a day before talks are supposed to end, the draft text 
remains full of opposing views and contradictory language.

And frustration is growing.

"The overwhelming majority of delegates here demand an ambitious treaty," 
said Panama's delegation head Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez.

"If the reduction of production is not there, there is no treaty."

"We cannot let a few loud voices derail the process," he added.

- 'Ready to walk away' -

A diplomat from the High Ambition Coalition, which groups dozens of countries 
seeking a strong deal, echoed that sentiment.

"We are a large group uniting around key effective elements, and getting 
ready to walk away," he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity to 
discuss closed-door deliberations.

He warned that "some countries" were actively considering calling a vote, 
which would circumvent the UN's traditional approach of agreement by 
consensus and could "raise a lot of eyebrows."

It was a possibility being increasingly discussed as a "last resort," said 
the Democratic Republic of Congo's J.M. Bope Bope Lapwong.

"I think that if we can't reach an agreement, we'll be obliged to go to a 
vote. We cannot come all this way, all these kilometres, to fail," he told 
AFP.

"True, it's not the usual way at UN meetings, and we will do it to our shame 
-- because when you negotiate, you don't expect to win it all."

More than 90 percent of plastic is not recycled, while plastic production is 
expected to triple by 2060.

Environmental groups have pushed ambitious countries to move to a vote if 
progress stalls, arguing that countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia have not 
offered any compromises during talks.

Neither delegation responded to repeated requests by AFP for comment.

"A handful of governments... are looking backwards and refusing to take the 
steps necessary for us all to advance," said Greenpeace's Graham Forbes.

"I think we are at a very risky moment right now of being sold out, and that 
would be an absolute catastrophe."

But observers warned that calling a vote would be a risky strategy that could 
alienate even some countries in favour of a strong treaty.

Another option would be for the diplomat chairing the talks to simply gavel 
through an agreement over the objections of a handful of holdouts, they said.

But that too holds risks, potentially embittering the remaining diplomatic 
process and jeopardising adoption of a treaty down the road.

"We don't want to move outside the framework of the United Nations," said an 
official from the French environment ministry.

"We hope we will find agreement between now and tomorrow and that's the 
option that we're focused on," he added.

"A lot can happen in 24 hours."