EarthBeat Weekly: Catholic disappointments as plastic pollution treaty delays

Catholic disappointments as plastic pollution treaty delays   EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change December 7, 2024 An unidentified woman collects items at the Dandora dumpsite in Nairobi, Kenya, Feb. 26, 2022. The dump attracts poor urban residents who collect recyclable materials for sale.  (CNS photo/Fredrick Nzwili) It's been nearly a week since negotiations in South Korea on a potential new international treaty to curb plastic pollution adjourned without a deal. Some 170 countries deadlocked on key issues, and they closed what was expected to be the final session with plans instead to add one more sometime in 2025. One of the main fault lines in the talks was the question of plastic production — more than 100 countries rallied around placing a cap on global output, with 400 million tons produced annually today, while others called for enhanced waste management and recycling methods. Among the delegates and observers in attendance in Busan were four Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, who have been following the treaty's progress since March 2022 when countries at the U.N. Environment Assembly adopted a resolution agreeing to deal with the problem of plastic pollution. For the sisters, they turned their attention to the treaty amid efforts within their congregation to respond to Pope Francis' calls for global actions to address the environmental challenges facing the planet in his 2015 encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." Looking at ways to reduce their own plastic use, "It became pretty obvious that although those [steps] are important to our individual ecological conversions, they aren't really going to be at a scale that's going to address the problem," Johnson told me. "This is a global crisis, and it needs a global solution," she said. Johnson told me she was disappointed a treaty didn't emerge in Busan, but left nonetheless "encouraged" at the overall sense she observed "that everyone agreed that this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity … I heard everyone really wanting an ambitious treaty, although, I'll tell you, they define ambition very differently." Following the negotiations remotely, though still closely, was Dr. Philip Landrigan, an epidemiologist and director of Boston College's Global Observatory on Planetary Health. A year ago, he was lead author on a major report that for the first time examined the full scale of public health impacts from plastics throughout their entire life cycle. "The central point here is that plastic harms health at every stage of its life cycle," Landrigan told me, adding that he too was "very disappointed" a treaty has not yet been adopted. "A treaty on plastics is really a treaty that's going to protect public health, and a treaty that fails to control plastics is going to be a document that harms public health," he said. Read more: Resolve remains for global plastic pollution treaty after talks fall short     What else is new on EarthBeat:   Pope Francis' eco-village to promote ecological conversion at 2025 Jubilee by Claire Giangravé, Religion News Service Pope Francis' plan to build an eco-village in the historic gardens of Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the popes, will be complete for the 2025 Jubilee. The "Borgo Laudato Sì" project, which combines sustainable agriculture with environmentally friendly teaching programs aimed especially at vulnerable and marginalized groups. Read more here »   Catholic officials blast $300B COP29 climate finance goal as too little by Brian Roewe Nearly 200 countries adopted a new financing target to assist developing countries respond to climate change at the United Nations climate change conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. Read more here »   Pope Francis receives new all-electric popemobile by Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service Pope Francis received a new, emission-free, all-electric popemobile from representatives of Mercedes-Benz, the German car manufacturer that has been supplying vehicles for the popes for nearly 100 years. Read more here »   The world's biggest climate case begins in The Hague by Anita Hofschneider, Grist This week, the International Court of Justice began hearing oral arguments in a high-profile case brought by the island nation of Vanuatu on what obligations United Nations member states have under international law to protect the planet from greenhouse gas emissions for future generations. Read more here »   Nun-dominated forum vows to correct ecological imbalances and climate change by Thomas Scaria A national body of Catholic religious working for justice and peace in India has vowed to protect mother earth from "merciless invasions" that create ecological imbalances and climate change.  Read more here »   El Salvador archbishop blasts mining law change, says it will cause 'irrevocable damage' by David Agren, OSV News Catholic leaders in Central America expressed alarm over the idea of repealing a national prohibition on extractive activities in El Salvador — putting the church in opposition to the country's popular president. Read more here »   Bishops' plenary, Mass and cardinal's visit focus on flood devastation, solidarity in Spain by José Calderero de Aldecoa, OSV News The archbishop of Valencia presided over Mass celebrated by the Spanish bishops in the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid Nov. 19 to pray for all those affected by the tragic end-of-October floods in Valencia, Albacete and Cuenca, where over 200 people lost their lives. Read more here »   Illinois man who is champion of rivers, trees to receive Pacem in Terris interfaith award by Barb Arland-Fye, OSV News Chad Pregracke of East Moline, Illinois, established Living Lands & Waters, an environmental organization, in 1998 in his hometown along the Mississippi River. He and his staff host river cleanups, watershed conservation initiatives, workshops and tree plantings, among other conservation efforts.  Read more here »   Fast fashion may seem cheap, but it's taking a costly toll on the planet by Paula M. Carbone Fast fashion has a growing impact on the climate, responsible for an estimated 8% to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions that are projected to grow quickly as the industry expands. Read more here »   Meet the peach that traveled the Trail of Tears and the elders working to save it by Taylar Dawn Stagner, Grist On the Muscogee reservation in Oklahoma and other parts of the U.S., Native Americans are working to preserve an heirloom peach variety that's a part of their heritage and now threatened by climate change. Read more here » What's happening in other climate news:   Fury as US argues against climate obligations at top UN court —Nina Lakhani for the Guardian What Trump's second administration could mean for environmental justice —Amudalat Ajasa and Anna Phillips for the Washington Post Biden pushes out over $100 billion in clean energy grants as term winds down —Valerie Volcovici for Reuters Magnitude 7.0 earthquake causes damage, cuts power. Tsunami warning canceled for California —Ishani Desai and Michael McGough for the Sacramento Bee Monarch butterflies may soon get protections under Endangered Species Act —Emily Kwong, Nathan Rott, Rachel Carlson and Rebecca Ramirez for National Public Radio Inside the plastic industry's battle to win over hearts and minds —Hiroko Tabuchi for The New York Times Oregon tribe has hunting and fishing rights restored under a long-sought court ruling —Claire Rush for the Associated Press Final Beat: Our coverage of the plastic treaty negotiations will continue next week, when EarthBeat will publish an excerpt of my interview with Dr. Philip Landrigan. His expertise on the public health consequences of plastic pollution is an important element of the discussion. Landrigan told me it was important that negotiators "bear in mind that they're not just dealing with a technical issue of plastic waste on beaches or plastic in the bodies of sea birds and whales. They're talking about children's health, and there's a profoundly moral dimension to this." Alongside his comprehensive report on plastics' impact on health, the journal Annals of Global Health in that 2023 issue also published a commentary from Cardinal Michael Czerny, head of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. In his response to the report, Czerny offered this observation: Two images come to mind as I read the powerful report of the Minderoo‐Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health in this issue of Annals of Global Health. First, I see an aisle in a supermarket in a high‐income country full of thousands of wonderfully fresh fruits and vegetables, all of them packaged in gleaming plastic. Then I switch to a picture of a beach in a poor country in Asia, Africa or Latin America littered with countless thousands of plastic containers, some bearing the same brand names as the items in the supermarket. And on that beach, I see a young mother and her child picking through the trash looking for things that they can recover and recycle to earn the $2 they need to survive for another day. These two pictures are indeed connected. It is vital to approach the question of plastic and health within a single framework. In the wake of Covid‐19, we realize that, if the planet is not healthy, we cannot be healthy, and vice versa. Life flourishes only if the ecosystems that sustain human and all biotic forms of life are healthy, and they will be healthy only if people take care of them. Plastic pollution threatens the environment, our health and that of future generations. Thanks for reading EarthBeat.    Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org Instagram: @broewe_ncr     Featured Advertisers   Looking to Hire? Offering Retreats? Selling Books? Place an Ad in NCR's Online Classified Section for Only $75 per Month!   Advertisement