Geneva talks on global plastic pollution treaty collapse without a deal

Global talks to develop a landmark treaty to tackle plastic pollution have once again failed to reach an agreement, despite efforts late into the night to strike a deal.

- (Al Jazeera)

Delegates at a closing meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) in Geneva on Friday spoke of their dismay at the failure to break a deadlock at the sixth round of talks in under three years, as countries remained deeply divided over the scope of any treaty.

“South Africa is disappointed that it was not possible for this session to agree a legally binding treaty and positions remain far apart,” its delegate told a closing meeting.

Cuba’s delegate said that negotiators had “missed a historic opportunity but we have to keep going and act urgently”, the AFP news agency reported.

“The planet, and present and future generations need this treaty.”

More than 1,000 delegates from at least 180 countries had gathered in the Swiss city for the latest meeting of the INC, a group established by the United Nations Environment Assembly in 2022 with the mandate to develop the world’s first legally binding global treaty to tackle plastic pollution.