Global Plastics Treaty: Why the talks failed at Busan, and where do we go from here?

Environment activists make a human sign on a beach in Busan on Nov 24 calling for a strong global plastics treaty as negotiations began on Nov 25 – little knowing that there would be no treaty at the end of the conference on Dec 2, with negotiations postponed to 2025. — AP

LOCATED on the southern tip of Penang Island, the fishing village of Kampung Binjai in Batu Maung is probably as far as one can get from the teeming crowds in George Town, one of Malaysia’s favourite tourist attractions.

But even here, bobbing on the currents of Sungai Bayan Lepas and jostling against the fishing boats and the stilts of the wooden jetty, are hundreds of discarded plastic bottles and other plastic waste. Besides being an eyesore, this plastics pollution is also a health hazard – and it’s not just a problem in this village. Everywhere in Malaysia plastics pollution continues to pose an insurmountable challenge, staining our beaches and clogging up our rivers.