Negotiators fail to agree on UN treaty to curb global plastic pollution

As the threat from plastic pollution mounts, countries could only agree to postpone negotiations to a later date.

Countries negotiating a global treaty to curb plastic pollution have failed to reach an agreement, with more than 100 nations advocating for a cap on plastic production and a handful of oil-producing countries only willing to target plastic waste.

The fifth United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting in Busan, South Korea was intended to be the final session. It was hoped the meeting would produce a legally binding global treaty.

If successful, it would have marked the most significant global climate pledge since the Paris Climate Accords in 2015, but the group of nations could only agree on Sunday to postpone negotiations to a later date.

Saudi Arabia, in particular, was accused of standing in the way. The country strongly opposed efforts to reduce plastic production and used procedural tactics to delay progress.

“It is clear that there is still persistent divergence,” Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, told the Reuters news agency.

One plan that received significant international support was proposed by Panama on Thursday. If adopted, it would have established a pathway for a global production reduction target, but it did not specify what that target would look like. Another proposal did not mention production caps at all.

Panama’s delegation head, Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, lambasted the postponement of negotiations.

“Every day of delay is a day against humanity,” he said. “Postponing negotiations does not postpone the crisis.”

Based on current trends, plastic production is on track to triple by 2050.

“Every day that governments allow polluters to continue flooding the world with plastic, we all pay the price. This delay comes with dire consequences for people and the planet, ruthlessly sacrificing those on the front lines of this crisis,” Graham Forbes, Greenpeace’s delegation head to the global plastics treaty, said in a statement.

“This week, over 100 member states, representing billions of people, rejected a toothless deal that would have accomplished nothing and stood before the world committing to an ambitious treaty. Now, it’s time they stand by this promise and deliver.”

The environmental group GAIA told Reuters that “there is little assurance that the next INC will succeed where INC-5 did not”.

The postponement comes just days after the turbulent conclusion of the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

At COP29, countries pledged $300bn annually to address climate change. However, this plan fell far short of the $1.3 trillion requested by developing nations, which are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis.