UN-led negotiations for a global plastics treaty ended without agreement on 15 August, with talks adjourned and no date set for their resumption.
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) had met in Geneva to advance a legally binding instrument to tackle plastic pollution. Key negotiating points included production caps, chemicals of concern, financing and compliance. The talks followed a previous draft discussed in Busan, South Korea, in late 2024.
UN Environment Programme (UNEP) executive director Inger Andersen said the 10-day session had been "hard-fought" against a backdrop of "geopolitical complexities, economic challenges and multilateral strains".
The EU had signalled flexibility ahead of the talks, notably on production limits. But opposition from producer countries remained firm, particularly on curbs to primary plastic polymer output and problematic chemicals.
EU environment commissioner Jessika Roswall said the latest draft text was a "step forward", although it fell short of the bloc's ambitions. The EU will continue to "push for a stronger, binding agreement that safeguards public health, protects our environment, and builds a clean, competitive and circular economy", she said.
French ecology minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher expressed frustration, saying France, the EU and a coalition of over 100 countries had "done everything" to reach a deal. "Oil-producing countries and their allies have chosen to look the other way. We choose to act," she said.
Greenpeace delegate Graham Forbes said fossil fuel interests had undermined progress. "The vast majority of governments want a strong agreement, yet a handful of bad actors were allowed to use process to drive such ambition into the ground," he said.
Benny Mermans, chair of the World Plastics Council and vice-president of sustainability at Chevron Phillips Chemical, urged negotiators to "steer away from contentious issues that threaten the historic opportunity to reach an agreement to end plastic pollution". He called for pragmatism and concentration on building waste management capacity and a circular model.
