Where does India stand in the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations? | In Focus podcast

Satyarupa Shekhar speaks to us about the issues under discussion in the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations, and India’s positions on these issues.

FILE - A boy walks on the plastic waste at the Badhwar Park beach on the Arabian Sea coast on World Environment Day in Mumbai, India, June 5, 2023. Negotiators at UN-led talks in Nairobi have failed to agree on how to advance work towards the development of a global treaty to end plastic pollution. Environmental advocates say some oil-producing governments used stalling tactics designed to ultimately weaken the treaty. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade, File) | Photo Credit: Rajanish Kakade

Plastics pollution is a major global crisis, with deadly repercussions for human health, marine life, and climate change. In March 2022, the United Nations set the ball rolling for the conclusion of a Global Plastics Treaty by the end of 2024. Later this month, we have the penultimate session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), where 175 countries will negotiate a legally binding treaty to combat plastic pollution.

What exactly are the issues under discussion in these negotiations? What has been India’s position on these issues? And given the magnitude of the plastic pollution crisis in India, is India on the right track?

Guest: Satyarupa Shekhar, a public policy advocate whose interests include urban governance, data justice, and plastics pollution.

Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu.

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.

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