This is the correct answer. It's really sad to see that the west is just a propaganda machine. We don't need the oil states to end plastic or whatnot in our countries. But we sure love to point fingers at various nations in search of a scapegoat.
China is de-oiling at a rapid pace and wants to lead the world in renewables infrastructure production. Which will mean eventually butting heads with the oil producers (which also includes the US). China is also getting cheap Russian oil, and the Gulf states have proven to be unreliable allies for them.
China doesn't produce plastic as is. They produce plastic products, after buying the plastic from oil producers. The largest plastic raw materials producer is SABIC, a Saudi company.
There are currently no viable alternatives for humanity to replace plastics in daily use while still maintaining the low cost of those products. Unless humanity opts for more expensive material to subvert plastic consumption, plastic is going to be used regardless.
And China is simply feeding that demand in Western countries with those goods, because those countries want those goods for cheap.
It never said it will stop right away. It put a target and the process is called phasing out. The same way you migrate away from AWS. You don’t just stop your platform you move over while still using some AWS services.
Too easy. Unfortunately it takes forever to decouple, but that doesn’t mean steps aren’t being taken.
And yes, we’re all stuck under capitalism so anything that really threatens the profitability of companies will be opposed as much as possible. Combine that with geopolitical events like Americans being the dumbest people possible who elect an openly corrupt authoritarian not once but twice and everything becomes even harder.
> Europe’s LNG imports declined by 19% in 2024. The continent’s gas consumption fell by 20% between 2021 and 2024 thanks to renewables deployment and demand reduction policies.
Put tarrifs on all trade with non compliant nations and their partners.
It's not just the oil states, it's almost all of them.