Negotiators working on a treaty to address the global crisis of plastic pollution won’t reach an agreement in South Korea and are making plans to resume the talks next year.
They are at an impasse over whether the treaty should reduce the total plastic on Earth and put global, legally binding controls on toxic chemicals used to make plastics.
The negotiations in Busan, South Korea, were supposed to be the last round and produce the first legally binding treaty on plastics pollution, including in the oceans, by the end of 2024. But with time running out early Monday, negotiators are making plans to resume the talks next year.
More than 100 countries want the treaty to limit production as well as tackle cleanup and recycling, and many have said that is essential to address chemicals of concern. But for some plastic-producing and oil and gas countries, that crosses a red line.
For any proposal to make it into the treaty, every nation must agree to it. Some countries sought to change the process so decisions could be made with a vote if consensus couldn’t be reached, but India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait and others opposed changing it.
On Sunday, the last scheduled day of talks, the treaty draft still had multiple options for several key sections. Some delegates and environmental organizations said it had become too watered down, including negotiators from Africa who said they would rather leave Busan without a treaty than with a weak one.
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