Plastics talks talk Trump

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Apr 09, 2024 View in browser   By Jordan Wolman THE BIG IDEA Former President Donald Trump would bring uncertainty to international environmental diplomacy, including U.N. efforts to finalize a global plastics treaty. | John Moore/Getty Images TRUMP BUMP — Donald Trump might prove to be just the boost needed to propel talks over a global plastics treaty to the finish line. The prospect of the former president's return to the White House next year is boosting the level of urgency around United Nations negotiations aimed at clinching a deal by the end of this year to significantly cut plastic pollution by 2040, Jordan reports. The heightened concern around the future of international environmental diplomacy comes at a critical juncture in the treaty talks — which have proceeded sluggishly so far — with countries set to gather in Ottawa later this month for the penultimate negotiating session. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who will be traveling to Canada as part of a congressional delegation to push for an ambitious treaty, said it's reasonable to think the upcoming U.S. election will have a positive impact on the discussions. “Certainly, in the unthinkable scenario of a second Trump presidency, we’re going to get nowhere on plastics,” Huffman said in an interview. “That’s one reason to be motivated. A more positive and hopeful reason to be motivated is that this is a great opportunity for the Biden administration to show young voters that they get it.” Worries about what Trump might do aren’t necessarily overblown, said Mario Loyola, a Heritage Foundation senior research fellow who served under Trump as associate director of regulatory reform at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Trump would take a “hard-nosed look” at any treaty that emerged from the talks and would be “skeptical that the agreement reached was the best agreement that could have been reached,” Loyola said. The Trump campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment. Even if negotiators agree on final text this year, a Trump victory could shift how the U.S. implements the agreement and diminish political will to ratify it in the Senate, which doesn't have the greatest reputation for following through on international agreements regardless of who occupies the White House. A spokesperson for Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s minister for environment and climate change, said that “changes within democracies can play a role in shifting the position of a country in these negotiations.” And the election is certainly “in people’s minds,” said a negotiator from a member of the High Ambition Coalition, a group of 65 countries working to include a provision limiting plastic production. With a historic rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden all but certain, some advocates unhappy with the Biden administration’s negotiating positions to date are using the looming election to put pressure on the State Department and raise the profile of their plastics policy demands. “It's the most leverage we're going to have,” said Frankie Orona, executive director of the Society of Native Nations, who met with the State Department last month and will be in Ottawa for the plastics talks. “You need to show us progress before you ask us to come in and give you some votes.” WASHINGTON WATCH TIME LOAN — The Biden administration has billions at its disposal to spend on green energy, battery manufacturing and clean hydrogen, but is racing against the clock to spend it before the November elections that could return Trump to power next year. The presidential campaign is shaping the dynamics around the more than $200 billion the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office has on hand in part from the Inflation Reduction Act because of concerns over what might happen in 2025, Kelsey Tamborrino and Brian Dabbs report. “It would just die on the vine,” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said in an interview about any leftover money should Trump win in November. The Biden administration, meanwhile, is balancing getting critical money out the door while avoiding the kind of waste that Republicans point to in recalling the infamous failed Obama-era loan guarantee to the solar manufacturer Solyndra. “We don’t want to leave anything on the table. But I understand that you’ve got to do it right,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told POLITICO. “By nature,” she said, the office is “loaning in places that have not been loaned to before.” AROUND THE WORLD FINANCING FAULT LINES — Climate negotiators from the U.S. and EU are homing in on Beijing in an attempt to woo the world's biggest polluter to pony up cash to help fund clean energy and climate-friendly projects in poorer nations around the world, Karl Mathiesen reports. A group of European climate envoys was in the Chinese capital on Monday seeking “much greater transparency” on the country’s climate finance stance, according to one European official, after Beijing declined to pay into a fund set up at last year’s COP. The U.S. and EU also want wealthy Gulf states to contribute to the cause. China is unlikely to be shamed into chipping in, said Bernice Lee, a sustainability specialist at the Chatham House think tank in London. That’s especially true considering the fact that wealthy countries like the U.S. already missed one target for delivering $100 billion annually by 2020. Expectations are also low for EU officials’ pressing of China to join them in setting new 2035 emissions reduction goals to limit global warming. AROUND THE NATION FOUR MORE — West Virginia Treasurer Riley Moore’s office has added four more financial firms to the list of those barred from state business over claims that they are boycotting fossil fuels. Citigroup, TD Bank, The Northern Trust Company and HSBC have been added to Moore’s anti-ESG hit list alongside BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase and other major firms. POLITICO first reported earlier this year that Moore was weighing whether to bar six more companies from competing for banking contracts as part of an ongoing effort to hit back at banks and asset managers that consider climate risk in making investment decisions. Other states including Texas and Oklahoma have enacted similar state laws banning business with financial companies over alleged fossil fuel boycotts, even though no Wall Street firms have stopped dealing with the sector. YOU TELL US GAME ON — Welcome to the Long Game, where we tell you about the latest on efforts to shape our future. Join us every Tuesday as we keep you in the loop on the world of sustainability. Team Sustainability is editor Greg Mott and reporters Jordan Wolman and Allison Prang. Reach us all at gmott@politico.com, jwolman@politico.com and aprang@politico.com. Sign up for the Long Game. It's free! WHAT WE'RE CLICKING — A European court has ruled that Switzerland violated the rights of its citizens by failing to fight climate change. Our Federica di Sario has that story. — Researchers are looking into whether rock residue from melting glaciers could be used to suck carbon out of the sky, the Washington Post reports. — Bloomberg reports that a startup is developing methane-eating microbes that could help cut carbon emissions.   Follow us on Twitter Debra Kahn @debra_kahn Greg Mott @gwmott Jordan Wolman @jordanwolman Allison Prang @AllisonPrang   Follow us

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