Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian

Prabhat Upadhyaya

latest news & developments
The “hard-fought” negotiations to develop a landmark United Nations treaty to end plastic pollution closed on Friday without agreement and have been extended again
BREAK FREE FROM PLASTIC

South Africa and other countries ignore waste reduction in climate plan

‘If plastic were a country, it would already be the fifth-largest emitter in the world’

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
Stuck: The department of forestry, fisheries and the environment does not support establishing a new multilateral environmental agreement on plastics, according to a leaked document, and to the dismay of environmentalists. Photo: Paul Botes
ALBI MODISE

Plastic: South Africa is 11th-biggest litterbug

The country risks ‘pariah status’ for approach to global plastic waste crisis

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
The first round of plastic treaty negotiations saw positive outcomes but oil producing countries, at the behest of big oil and petrochemical companies, could dominate the treaty discussions. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
BASEL CONVENTION

South Africa won’t support proposed global plastic ban treaty, draft document reveals

Critics say the environment department’s argument that the treaty would be a duplication of existing agreements is flawed

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read