More than 70 international brands (including Coca Cola and PepsiCo) called today for a global pact to combat plastic pollution that includes cuts in plastic production, a key growth area for the oil industry. World officials will meet at a United Nations Environment Assembly conference (UNEA 5.2) later this year to start negotiations on a treaty to tackle a plastic waste crisis that is choking landfills, despoiling oceans and killing wildlife. It remains unclear whether any deal will focus on waste management and recycling or take tougher steps such as curbing new plastic production, a move that would likely face resistance from big oil and chemical firms and major plastic-producing…