Opinion: Great hope is placed on the outcome from this year’s COP to take impactful action on climate change. But, if last year’s Summit is anything to go by, chances are slim. The fact only 16% of the world’s largest companies are on track to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – down from 18% in 2023 throws further doubt. But the consequences of inaction are severe. Just look at Florida, which experienced two hurricanes in less than a month or the recent flooding in Spain.
Fossil fuels account for 90% of the world’s carbon emissions making it the main driver of climate change. And while we know this, we continue to extract fossil fuels from our earth and oceans. Making matters worse, we haven’t even reached peak oil demand yet with estimates from Goldman Sachs suggesting it is still a decade away.
We are witnessing a transition in various sectors — such as the shift from petrol to electric vehicles and from coal to renewable energy — but another significant consumer of fossil fuels often remains overlooked: plastics.
To date, we have produced 10 billion tonnes of plastic all made from carbon-intensive fossil fuels, and all still largely remain on this Earth. Yet the production of plastic is set to double in the next two decades and will account for nearly 50% of the growth in oil demand by 2050.
To make matters worse, the majority of plastic products are used just once before being discarded. Estimates suggest about half of all plastic produced is designed for single-use applications. And even plastics intended for longer use often end up in landfills, leak into our ecosystems, or are incinerated.
While it is unrealistic to completely eliminate our dependence on plastics; they are integrated into almost every aspect of modern life and can provide environmental benefits – plastic aeroplane parts are lighter than metal ones, which mean less fuel and lower CO₂ emissions. Solar panels and wind turbines have plastic parts that are critical to their operation. But this cycle of making brand new plastics from fossil fuel, and then using them just once, needs to change.
Instead, we need to focus on the 10 billion tonnes of plastic already in circulation and recycle it. And I mean, really recycle it – not just downcycling it or turning it into energy and calling it recycling.
Governments are beginning to take serious action to end this dangerous cycle. The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles aims to ensure that all textile products on the market are largely made from recycled fibres. In the United States, a landmark bill recently passed in California mandates producers of apparel and textiles to implement statewide reuse, repair, and recycling programs. The European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is also pushing for packaging to contain specified percentages of recycled materials.
Regulatory progress is occurring in parts of the world, but Australia is not one of them. While initiatives like Seamless — a voluntary clothing stewardship scheme collecting four cents on every garment — exist, without regulation, change won’t happen. Case in point is Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation. The group set a National Packaging Target to ensure 70% of plastic packaging is recycled by next year, yet recent data shows we are less than halfway to achieving this goal.
Australia’s voluntary approach to reducing plastic waste is insufficient. While technological innovations such as enzymatic recycling hold promise for addressing some of these challenges, they cannot be the sole solution. Legislative measures and imposed taxes are essential to drive behavioural change and achieve meaningful impact.
If we’re serious about addressing climate change, we need to end this dangerous cycle of creating new virgin plastics from fossil fuels and start taking meaningful action – that means not just having the serious talks that voluntary schemes perpetuate. I hope the efforts from the remaining days of COP29 lead to immediate and lasting action and are simply not done in vain.
