Global efforts to secure the world first treaty on plastic pollution have collapsed for the second time in eight months, after 10 days of intense negotiations in Geneva ended without consensus.
Talks broke down over deep divisions on the scope and ambition of the treaty. Nearly 100 countries in the “high-ambition coalition” led by the EU, UK, Norway and Panama pushed for binding curbs on plastic production, chemicals of concern, and recognition of health impacts. Opposing them were oil and petrochemical producers, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran and Russia, backed by China and India, who argued that production cuts threatened trade and development needs.
India, while already banning several single-use plastics domestically, opposed any global phase-out lists and resisted treaty provisions that might regulate primary polymer production. It also warned that without equitable finance and technology support, ambitious measures would unfairly burden developing nations.
The Geneva round was a continuation of talks from Busan last year, where negotiators had failed to move forward. A revised draft treaty circulated on August 13 which dropped references to production cuts, chemicals, and lifecycle definitions was widely criticised as a “dilution of objectives.” A fresh draft two days later acknowledged unsustainable production and left the door open for cuts, but petrochemical states still rejected it.
With the principle of consensus binding the process, the failure leaves the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee struggling to bridge entrenched positions. The treaty mandate, adopted by the UN in 2022, was hailed as historic. But three years later, divisions remain over whether the treaty should be a bold tool to cut plastic at the source, or a softer framework centred on waste management and voluntary national actions.