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– Negotiators Deadlocked Over Whether to Limit Plastic Production or Just Improve Waste Management
– Oil-Producing Countries Reject Binding Limits, Push for Narrower Scope Treaty
– Civil Society Calls for Urgent Renewed Diplomacy After “Blow to Multilateralism”
After 11 days of negotiations in Geneva, countries failed to reach an agreement on a legally binding global treaty to curb plastic pollution. The talks, involving 185 nations, fell apart over fundamental differences: whether to place binding caps on plastic prodution and regulate the chemicals used in plastics, or whether the treaty should instead focus only on end-of-pipe solutions like waste management, recycling, and design improvements. Draft treaty texts that did not include production limits or chemical control were rejected by a large group of countries calling for more ambitious measures. Key petrochemical and oil-producing nations—including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United States—resisted provisions on production caps, arguing the treaty’s scope strayed from prior mandates.
Although the talks were formally adjourned without resolution, delegates and civil society actors emphasized the collapse as a warning rather than a defeat. Environmental groups from Nigeria and other countries highlighted the urgency of transparent governance and accountability for plastic production and pollution. More than 100 countries reportedly support limiting plastic production and regulating toxic chemicals, but without consensus, there is no operational framework yet. The failure of these Geneva talks underscores the need for renewed diplomacy, possibly reconsidering consensus-based rules, to ensure more ambitious environmental treaties.
