Global efforts to finalise a landmark treaty to curb plastic pollution have stalled after negotiators in Geneva failed to agree on a draft text, leaving the summit without a deal.
Two draft texts presented by Committee Chairman Luis Vayas Valdivieso were rejected on Friday as a basis for negotiations.
“No further action is being proposed at this stage on the latest draft,” Valdivieso mentioned.
Small island developing states, represented by Palau, voiced frustration at investing resources in repeated rounds of negotiations “with insufficient progress to show our people.”
Representatives from Norway, Australia, Tuvalu and other countries expressed deep disappointment at leaving without a treaty, while the European Union called for continued talks, saying the draft could still serve as a starting point.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait opposed plastic production based provision, which they argued was outside the treaty’s scope. The latest draft omitted production caps but acknowledged that current levels were “unsustainable” and exceeded global waste management capacities.
Delegates from 184 countries remained deadlocked over whether the agreement should impose limits on plastic production and set legally binding controls on toxic chemicals used in manufacturing.
Oil- and gas-producing nations and the plastics industry oppose caps, while about 100 countries support limits and tighter chemical controls.
Tim Grabiel of the Environmental Investigation Agency said they “used every dirty tactic in the multilateral playbook to delay and deceive, dither and destroy an effective plastics treaty.”
The central dispute was whether the treaty should curb the production of new plastics (more than 400 million tonnes are made annually) or focus on improving design, recycling and reuse.
The Geneva talks held from August 5-14 were intended to be the final negotiating session before the treaty’s adoption, but the failure to reach consensus means another round will now be needed.