Plastic Pollution Treaty Negotiations Collapse; Saudis, Other Oil Producers Blocked Limits On Plastic Production

Global talks to forge a landmark treaty aimed at reducing plastic pollution broke down after negotiators from more than 170 countries remained deadlocked over how to curb the world’s growing mountain of plastic waste. The marathon negotiations in this port city collapsed early Monday, local time, after participants could not agree on the best path forward. More than 100 countries favored measures to ratchet back plastic production, while oil-rich nations pushed back, arguing that the world should target plastic pollution, not plastic itself.

Under U.N. rules, delegates must reach a consensus to pass a binding deal. Negotiators said they hope to resume talks next year. The breakdown came after a week of late-night negotiations involving hundreds of diplomats as plastic industry officials and environmentalists watched from the sidelines in the hallways of the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center. The outcome underscores the difficulties in dialing back the use of a material that is ubiquitous and underpins a global multibillion-dollar industry.

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The talks in Busan were the culmination of two years of fast-tracked negotiations on plastics. In 2022, the U.N. Environment Assembly, which represents all 193 member states, said it would create a binding treaty by 2024 that would tackle the world’s “high and rapidly increasing levels of plastic pollution.” Member countries met nearly half-a-dozen times to craft an agreement, and had hoped to finalize it in South Korea. The disappointing results came despite a near-consensus among participants that without urgent action to combat plastic pollution, global warming would be likely to intensify. Most plastics are made from fossil fuels in a process that can spew toxic and planet-warming gases.

Negotiators hoping to impose stricter limits on plastic waste openly expressed their displeasure in the final hours of the talks. “We share the unhappiness that can be felt in this room,” remarked Hugo-Maria Schally, the E.U. adviser for international environmental negotiations, during the plenary. And when Rwanda’s delegate, Juliet Kabera, urged her colleagues “to stand up for ambition,” the room broke out into applause and dozens of negotiators rose to their feet, clapping.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/12/01/plastic-pollution-treaty-global-un-busan/