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

02-Dec-2024

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

Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso bangs a gavel to end the session of the UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC-5) in Busan, South Korea

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.