Propelling Efforts To Limit Worldwide Plastic Pollution
MES/COS/CEE Professor Aron Stubbins is part of a delegation involved in what could be the final round in the negotiation process for an international plastic pollution treaty that would limit plastic pollution worldwide. The delegation is led by Maria Ivanova (pictured in photo), CSSH professor and director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Alena Kuzub. Main photo: Maria Ivanova, director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, spoke about the plastic pollution crisis at TED Planet Action Summit on Nov. 16. Courtesy of John Werner Photography
Northeastern delegation taking part in pivotal UN plastic pollution treaty talks in South Korea
Northeastern University professor Maria Ivanova is in Busan, South Korea, with hopes of seeing an international treaty that aims to put the brakes on plastic pollution across the globe.
Ivanova, director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern, is leading a delegation that is taking part in the fifth round of negotiations on an international treaty on plastic pollution authorized by the United Nations in March 2022.
The delegation includes Aron Stubbins, a Northeastern professor of marine and environmental sciences, chemistry and chemical biology and civil and environmental engineering, and six students from the university.
They include PhD students Nicole Vandale, Olga Skaredina and Clara Copp-LaRocque; master’s students Alexandra Carlotto and Marcello Fisher, also a legislative aide for U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida; and an undergraduate student Kylee Hendrie.
This is expected to be the final meeting of the negotiating committee, which represents more than 190 countries.
“We will see in the current geopolitical space where this plastic treaty negotiation ends up,” Ivanova says.
Currently, a “high-ambition” coalition led by Rwanda and Norway is advocating for a treaty that addresses the entire lifecycle of plastics, she says, from production to consumption to disposal.
“The more we produce, the more pollution there will be,” Ivanova says. “So we have to balance out our production with our consumption, and then innovate in the ways of disposal.”
Oil-producing countries such as Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia have pushed to leave production untouched and focus the treaty solely on managing waste.
In light of Donald Trump winning the 2024 presidential election, Ivanova is now uncertain whether the U.S. position on the plastic pollution treaty might change.
Ivanova points to the Trump administration’s previous withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, a global climate change accord, as a cautionary tale. She fears the new administration might ignore or even dismantle the plastic pollution treaty.
Despite the uncertainty, Ivanova views Northeastern’s involvement as an honor. The university’s delegation will provide necessary advice and assistance during the negotiations, she says.
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