Sawt Falasteen - Chile's climate summit chief to lead plastic pollution treaty talks

Career diplomat Julio Cordano was elected by countries meeting in Geneva following a drawn-out battle.

"Plastic pollution is a planetary problem that affects everyone: every country, every community and every individual," he said after being elected. "A treaty is urgently needed."

More than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, half of which is for single-use items. The plastic pollution problem is so ubiquitous that microplastics have been found on the highest mountain peaks and in the oceans' deepest trench.

Supposedly final talks in South Korea in 2024 towards a treaty to address the problem ended without a deal -- and a resumed effort in Geneva last August likewise collapsed.

Talks chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso then quit in October.

Some 156 countries met in Geneva on Saturday to pick a new chair from three candidates, with the process underlining how far apart different groups of countries remain.

A large bloc wants bold action such as curbing plastic production, while a smaller clutch of oil-producing states wants to focus more narrowly on waste management.

The talks process has been taking decisions by consensus -- which has proved impossible to find, with tiny island states drowning in foreign marine plastic and oil-producing countries pulling in opposite directions.

- Protracted process -

Saturday's one-day meeting was purely to elect a new chair.

Some countries -- led by Kuwait and backed by many oil-producing nations -- requested a few hours to give the candidates a chance to lobby diplomats in the search for consensus.

Other countries charged that such requests were merely a bid to run down the clock; Antigua and Barbuda called it "an attempt to protract the process".

After two hours of fruitless consultations the issue was forced to a vote.

Cordano came through two rounds of voting, defeating candidates from Senegal and Pakistan.

O.Salim--SF-PST