After two years of negotiations, a fifth round of talks on a plastic pollution accord was suspended as nations were unable to agree on how to deal with the exponential growth of plastic production and waste.
More than 3,000 delegates, including representatives of some 170 nations and observers from 440 organizations, adjourned only with agreement on a "chair’s text" that they said will serve as the starting point for negotiations in 2025 when the fifth round is resumed.
Recriminations flew even before negotiations over a proposed treaty to end plastic pollution drew to a close in Busan, South Korea, on Sunday, with nations favoring plastic production limits pitted against oil-rich producing nations. Most plastic is made from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels.
At a meeting hosted by the U.N. Environment Program, negotiators first tried to resolve their differences behind closed doors, then released the final draft, with several options still unresolved, at an open session.
For the proposal to limit production, favored by a large coalition of nations and environmental advocates, that left the door still open to abandoning any limit or postponing a decision for later. Other options called for a ban on some single-use plastic products or those with toxic chemicals.
Persistent 'divergence in critical areas'
UNEP's Executive Director Inger Andersen put a positive spin on the latest negotiations, saying the meeting in Busan "made good progress" towards a deal and negotiators "reached a greater degree of convergence on the structure and elements of the treaty text, as well as a better understanding of country positions and shared challenges."
"But it is clear there is persisting divergence in critical areas and more time is needed for these areas to be addressed," she added.
Led by Rwanda and Norway, dozens of nations and the European Nation supported a new proposal led by Panama seeking a global target to cut plastic production to “sustainable levels." They ran up into opposition, led by Saudi Arabia, from oil-rich and plastic-producing nations.
"This is not a drill. This is a fight for survival. We're here in Busan negotiating the most important global treaty for the survival of humankind since the adoption of the Paris Agreement on climate," Panama's chief negotiator Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez. "We are not just negotiating a treaty. We're deciding whether we care enough to save ourselves."
More than 400 million tons of new plastic is produced each year, and without any limits that is expected to rise 70% by 2040.
