New Delhi, Aug 15 (PTI) Countries on Friday failed to reach an agreement during the resumed fifth round of international talks in Geneva that could have led to the first-ever global treaty to curb plastic pollution, with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) saying negotiators will reconvene at a later date to be announced.
Governments negotiating the treaty were presented on Thursday with a new chair’s draft that omitted binding limits on plastic production and did not include a dedicated section on chemicals of concern. The text drew sharp criticism from many nations and civil society groups for relying on voluntary, nationally determined actions.
Delegates from around 185 countries worked through the night at the UN’s Palais des Nations, trying to bridge differences between a high-ambition group seeking global caps on virgin plastic and controls on hazardous chemicals, and a bloc of oil- and petrochemical-producing states that argued the treaty should focus on recycling, waste management and voluntary commitments.
Despite overtime talks, the meeting ended without a deal.
The UNEP said the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2), which ran from August 5 to 15, adjourned with no agreement and would reconvene at a later date to be announced.
Earlier, the UNEP had billed this session as an opportunity to “finalise and approve” text for forwarding to a diplomatic conference, but that prospect has been pushed back.
In the resumed talks, the European Union, many African and Pacific states and Latin American countries pressed for binding global measures, including production limits and phase-outs of the most harmful polymers and products.
On the other side, major producers, including the United States and several Gulf states, resisted any cap on primary plastic production and opposed strong chemical controls, according to negotiators and observers. Several ministers accused a small group of countries of blocking progress.
India reiterated its “no product phase-out” stance in the treaty, aligning with countries favouring nationally determined approaches focused on waste management, design improvements and extended producer responsibility rather than global bans.
Civil society organisations called the collapse “a wake-up call”, arguing that a handful of countries used procedures to drag down ambition.
WWF said the chair’s draft was “not a treaty” without global phase-outs, product design rules, a robust finance mechanism and majority voting to strengthen obligations over time.
Environmental groups nonetheless welcomed that a weak deal was not rushed through.
The resumed fifth round of negotiations on the plastics treaty (INC-5.2) in Geneva was part of a process launched in 2022 to tackle what the UN describes as a “plastic pollution crisis” threatening oceans, wildlife, human health and the climate.
The talks were initially expected to conclude in Busan, South Korea, last December but negotiations there too ended without agreement.
The UNEP estimates humanity produces more than 430 million tonnes of plastic a year, much of it is short-lived. Without stronger policies, OECD projects that plastics production and use could rise by about 70 per cent by 2040.
Between 19 and 23 million tonnes of plastic waste leak into aquatic ecosystems annually, with around 11 million tonnes entering the oceans each year, according to UN-linked assessments.
Business coalitions that back a strong treaty said globally harmonised obligations, such as criteria to phase out problematic products, would cut far more pollution than a patchwork of voluntary national measures.
But industry groups tied to the plastics value chain continued to emphasise recycling and waste-management improvements. PTI GVS GVS MNK MNK
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