Plastic treaty talks collapse

Today's newsletter explains how talks for a global plastic treaty failed. Plus, a look at Chicago's new flood-warning system. You can read and share full versions of these stories on Bloomberg.com. For unlimited access to climate and energy news, please subscribe.

Global plastic talks falter

By Olivia Rudgard and John Ainger

Efforts to agree on a treaty to curb the proliferation of plastics stalled on Friday, leaving nearly three years of negotiations in limbo.

Delegates walked away from the United Nations meeting in Geneva without an agreement, after convening earlier in the month in order to break a deadlock over how to address the threat that plastic pollution poses to human health, wildlife and ecosystems.

Photographer: Andre Malerba/Bloomberg

Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso adjourned talks early on Friday morning after delegates objected to a text they said lacked mandatory requirements to phase out harmful chemicals, contribute to a fund to pay for cleanup and remediation or limit production. Negotiations would resume at an unspecified future date, organizers said.

"Countries decided that it was better to leave with no treaty than a weak treaty," said Christina Dixon, ocean campaign leader at the Environmental Investigation Agency, who was observing the talks.

Plastics production continues to grow explosively, according to a 2024 report from the the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It doubled between 2000 and 2019, from 234 to 460 million tons. Without more ambitious policies, the amount of plastics produced around the world is set to reach 736 million tons by 2040.

Of the 16,000-plus chemicals in plastics, more than one-fourth are known to be hazardous to human health, while the majority have never been tested for toxicity, according to a recent paper in Nature. These chemicals appear to be found in every major plastic type, the study found.

In the final meeting, countries expressed dismay that an agreement was still out of reach. "Our work has been frustrated and we are incredibly disappointed that we have not been able to agree a treaty," said Emma Hardy, the UK's water minister, in the closing plenary early on Friday.

Efforts to settle on a treaty have been frustrated by a fundamental disagreement over how best to manage the environmental and health problems caused by plastic.

Over six rounds of negotiations, delegates struggled to bridge a divide between two groups. The majority of countries favored a treaty that would cap the amount of plastic produced and set limits on certain toxic chemicals, while a smaller group led by oil-producing countries including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait wanted to keep the agreement's focus on plastic waste collection and better recycling.

During the most recent set of talks, the US aligned itself with this second group, saying it opposed any restrictions on business and commerce. The shift made it easier for opponents of more ambitious action to frustrate efforts to include those types of measures, observers said, though the structure of the UN talks, which require agreement from everyone in attendance, meant the gap between the parties was always going to be difficult to close.

Jessika Roswall, the European Union's environment commissioner, said the the bloc will seek to use the latest version as a basis for a stronger agreement in future. The EU "will continue to push for a stronger, binding agreement that safeguards public health, protects our environment, and builds a clean, competitive, and circular economy," she said.

Read the full story on Bloomberg.com. For more news on the environment, please subscribe.

Waste crisis

91%

The share of the world's plastic waste that isn't recycled, according to the UN Environment Programme.

Not giving up

"[This] should spur us to regain our energy, renew our commitments, and unite our aspirations."

Luis Vayas Valdivieso

Chair of the INC- 5.2 talks in Geneva

Negotiations for a plastic treaty will resume at an unspecified future date.

Chicago goes on flood watch

By Olivia Raimonde

Nedra Sims Fears still remembers the night years ago when her family home in Chicago flooded, sparking an electrical fire. Her father woke her up and rushed her outside into the pouring rain as smoke filled the rooms of their home in the city's Chatham neighborhood. "We could see the smoke and smell the smoke, and we literally escaped with the clothes on our back," Sims Fears said.

Flooding is a pervasive hazard in the US, affecting almost every county nationwide over the past 20 years. The risk is growing as a warmer atmosphere charges storms with more moisture, leading to heavier rainfall.

Storm clouds pass over downtown Chicago. Photographer: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

This week, Chicago rolled out a new flood detection warning system. The water tech startup Hyfi, in partnership with Verizon Communications Inc., began installing 50 sensors in flood-prone areas across the city.

Data from the sensors will let emergency preparedness officials know where flooding is occurring. The sensors are designed by Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Hyfi and operate on Verizon's 5G network.

Wireless and solar-powered, the sensors use sonar to detect water levels. They will provide real-time information to first responders and officials, including the city's Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Water Management.

"We are seeing more compressed, intense storms as our climate changes," said Brendan Schreiber, deputy commissioner and chief sewer engineer for the City of Chicago. "Recent rain events have been massive in both scale and impact."

The rollout comes after a pilot program last year in New Orleans. Verizon funded the $2 million cost of both projects. The wireless network carrier says it will make further investments to set up the sensors in Detroit within the year.

Sims Fears, who is the executive director of Chicago's nonprofit Greater Chatham Initiative, said she was impressed by Hyfi and Verizon's consultation with neighborhood residents. "They asked us where it floods, so that you aren't guessing — you have people who live in the neighborhood, who have deep knowledge."

Read the full story here.

Worth a listen

The moon above Sizewell B nuclear power station in the UK. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Electricity demand is soaring, and some think the answer isn't building bigger, but smaller. That's the idea behind small modular reactors (SMRs): shrink a large and hard-to-build reactor to something that is, in theory, more manageable, cheaper and easier to replicate. These are early days for SMRs, with only two in commercial operation in Russia and China. Can SMRs ever become a solution for our energy needs and climate goals? Nuclear scientist and venture capitalist Rachel Slaybaugh joins Akshat Rathi on Zero to discuss.

Listen now, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or YouTube to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday.

More from Green

Hundreds of public fast chargers are popping up across the US to serve electric vehicle drivers seeking a cleaner alternative to gas-powered cars. But they come with a surprising risk: Charging stations create air pollution.

While EVs contribute vastly less to air pollution than combustion-powered vehicles, fast-charging stations are what a recent study called an "overlooked source of air pollution."

The emissions are likely tied to the fans used in direct current fast chargers' power cabinets. While they help keep equipment cool, the recent study indicates they likely have the unintended side effect of kicking up particles from tires, brakes and dust into the air.

The average concentration of fine particulate matter in the air at the charging sites was 15.2 micrograms per cubic meter, slightly higher than what researchers found at gas stations and significantly higher than in other urban locations such as parks.

EV charging companies can include filtration in charging cabinets to mitigate pollution, the study's authors said. They can also avoid putting the chargers near places like schools and residential areas. — Tope Alake and Emma Court

A potentially record-breaking atmospheric river will sweep off the Pacific Ocean this week, soaking the US Northwest and neighboring British Columbia. The moisture content from the looming storm will rival records set in September 1957 on Washington's Olympic Peninsula just west of Seattle, said Peter Mullinax, a forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center.

La Niña's likelihood is increasing — and upping the odds of hurricanes. Forecasters at the US Climate Prediction Center have issued a La Niña watch, meaning that the surface of the Pacific Ocean is poised to cool. The weather pattern tends to reduce sudden changes in wind speed and direction in the Atlantic, allowing more storms to take shape.

A UK battery developer is looking to expand across Europe. Harmony Energy Ltd. is looking to secure about £300 million (around $400 million) from investors in exchange for a stake in the firm. As part of its growth strategy, Harmony Energy plans to build out its existing 14-gigawatt pipeline.