Cop-out: /ˈkäpˌout/
An informal phrase , according to Oxford Languages, meaning “an instance of avoiding a commitment or responsibility.” While COP 27 made a historic decision to set up a new fund to help compensate low-income countries from climate change damages, it didn’t address emissions or restrict the use of fossil fuels, both of which are necessary to help prevent future damage.
Plastic production increases can be expected as multiple countries continue to build ethane-cracking plants, costing billions of dollars, and increasing the production of polyethylene beads by millions.
As COP-27 delegates worked, Royal Dutch Shell opened a new plant in Pennsylvania, funded in part by the state’s largest tax credit to date – $1.65 billion. At full capacity, it will add 1.6 million tons of plastic pellets to the economy. Meanwhile, Qatar Energy and Chevron have resumed construction of a facility that will be the world’s largest, producing 1.9 million tons of plastic per year.
Fossil fuels are turned into 99% of the world’s plastics, and its production has been likened to “The New Coal.” Any decisions to address this issue did not emerge from COP-27. A “cop-out”? You decide.
Links:
Qatar Plant: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1964476/business-economy