Amid deep divisions, plastic treaty bombs

AFTER three years of negotiations, the United Nations' effort to craft the world's first legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution ended in a "no agreement" here on Friday.

- S V Krishna Chaitanya @Geneva

AFTER three years of negotiations, the United Nations' effort to craft the world's first legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution ended in a "no agreement" here on Friday. Nearly 180 countries failed to agree on a draft text during the final week of talks, with deep divisions over the treaty's scope, how decisions should be made, and whether the deal should target plastic production itself.

The collapse followed nightlong consultations and a chaotic closing plenary stretching into early hours of Friday. The Chair's revised draft in the morning lacked consensus. By dawn, weary delegates conceded there was no deal.

The fault lines had been visible all week. More than 100 members of the 'High Ambition Coalition' — including the EU and Africa nations— pushed for binding measures to cut plastic production, phase out single-use plastic and adopt reuse and recycling. They also demanded a provision for majority voting at the future Conference of the Parties (COP), arguing that without it the treaty risked being paralysed by a small minority.

Oil-producing states — led by Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia (Like-Minded Group) — rejected these demands. They insisted the treaty focus on plastic waste management rather than upstream production, and that all decisions must be by consensus. India backed this bloc.