Plastic pollution talks collapse after 'obstruction from oil states'

Global talks to create a treaty aimed at ending the scourge of plastic pollution have collapsed, with no deal agreed and no clear path forward.

- Karen McVeigh

Delegates from 184 countries worked beyond Thursday's deadline and into yesterday morning, but remained deadlocked over proposals to restrict the growth of plastic production and place global, legally binding controls on toxic chemicals used to make it. The issue has dogged talks since they started in 2022.

Several countries expressed disappointment and anger that the Geneva talks, known as the INC, had, after the sixth and final round, failed to reach a deal. Despite the deadlock, officials said talks would resume in the future.

Some NGOs branded the failure a "blow to multilateralism", and there were reflections from some delegates on how to move forward without the participation of petrostates that had obstructed the talks.

Agnès Pannier-Runacher, France's minister for ecological transition, said she was "disappointed" and "angry" that a handful of countries "guided by short-term financial interests" blocked an ambitious treaty.

France, the EU and more than 100 countries from every continent "did everything possible" to reach a deal to reduce plastic production, to ban the most dangerous products and to protect human health, she said.