Negotiations on a global treaty to address plastic pollution collapsed overnight, with talks once again ending without an agreement.
The talks in Geneva stalled earlier in the week after over 100 countries rejected the draft treaty text as it didn’t include caps on plastic production.
The negotiations, the sixth round of talks in under three years, lasted well into the night on Thursday with countries deadlocked over an agreement. However, the talks have now collapsed completely.
The previous meeting in Busan, South Korea, was originally scheduled to be the final round of negotiations, and also ended without agreement as several oil-producing nations rejected legally binding caps on plastic production.
Ahead of the talks in Geneva, the United States reportedly urged several countries to reject limits on plastic production and plastic chemical additives.
In the communications dated July 25 and shared with countries at the outset of talks on Monday, the U.S. outlined its non-negotiable positions, which placed it in direct opposition with more than 100 countries.
This breakdown in negotiations means the plastic crisis will continue unchecked, while the world waits for the urgent action it so desperately need.
Erin Simon, Vice President and Head of Plastic Waste & Business at WWF, called the breakdown in negotiations ‘deeply disappointing’.
“This breakdown in negotiations means the plastic crisis will continue unchecked, while the world waits for the urgent action it so desperately needs,” Simon said.
“The path forward is now uncertain. We urge the majority of countries – who mobilised throughout this process to demonstrate their true commitment to ending plastic pollution – to reassert their leadership.”
Sian Sutherland, Co-Founder, A Plastic Planet, Plastic Health Council, said the failure to reach agreement on the UN Global Plastics Treaty represents a ‘devastating capitulation to big oil’s interests’.
“After three years of unprecedented collaboration a minority of governments have scuppered the opportunity for binding health and production commitments that were fundamental to the Treaty’s effectiveness,” Sutherland said.