Greenpeace boards tanker in South Korea to protest plastic pollution

Greenpeace activists boarded a tanker off South Korea on Saturday in an action intended to draw attention to calls for a treaty to curb plastic pollution, the environmental group said.

Nearly 200 countries are in Busan to negotiate the deal at the UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution, but there is little sign of agreement with just a day left before talks are due to end.

Greenpeace said the tanker Buena Alba, anchored off the Hanwha TotalEnergies complex, was scheduled to pick up propylene, which is used to manufacture plastic.

“The activists boarded the vessel peacefully and met no reaction from the vessel crew,” said Greenpeace spokeswoman Angelica Pago.

“We painted ‘PLASTIC KILLS’ on the side of the vessel and the climbers successfully set up a camp,” she said.

“They intend to stay in order to continue putting pressure on the negotiators to resist fossil fuel and petrochemical industry interference in the talks and to deliver a treaty that firmly cuts plastic production.”