Negotiations at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, have been going on for eleven days, with the goal of concluding a historic agreement to stop plastic pollution in the world.
But just like at the last meeting in South Korea last year, the negotiators are leaving without having reached an agreement.
Luis Vayas Valdivieso, chairman of the negotiating committee, has presented two draft agreement texts. But representatives from 184 countries have not agreed to use either of the proposals as a basis for negotiations.
Had higher expectations
Swedish EU Commissioner Jessika Roswall says that the EU and its member states had higher expectations for the meeting. Although the draft did not meet their requirements, it is a good basis for a new round of negotiations, she thinks.
The earth does not belong only to us. We are custodians for those who come after us. Let us fulfill that duty, says Roswall.
In the negotiations, there are two camps. In one, the majority of countries, including those within the EU, want an agreement that applies to restrictions on the entire plastic cycle from design, production, and recycling to waste management, as well as a global phase-out of certain harmful plastic chemicals.
In the other camp are countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iran, which want the agreement to only deal with how plastic waste is handled after production and use.
Three years of failure
Several countries expressed bitter disappointment that the negotiations had broken down, but say they are prepared for future negotiations. This despite the fact that six rounds of negotiations over three years have failed to reach an agreement.
"We have missed a historic opportunity, but we must continue and act quickly. The planet and current and future generations need this agreement," says Cuba. Colombia added: "The negotiations were consistently blocked by a small number of states that simply do not want an agreement".
Even Tuvalu, an island nation in the Pacific, says that they once again left empty-handed. Without global cooperation and measures, millions of tons of plastic waste will "continue to be dumped into our oceans, affecting our ecosystem, food security, livelihoods, and our culture".
In 2022, the UN Environment Agency Unep launched a discussion on how the world's countries should agree on agreements on, among other things, production, recycling, and waste management of plastic.
What was to be the last UN meeting on the issue took place in South Korea in December 2024. It foundered.
This week's meeting in Geneva is a continuation of the foundered meeting. It ends on Friday night.
The global plastic agreement, Global Plastic Pollution Treaty, is proposed to regulate the entire life cycle of plastic and limit the use of certain chemicals in manufacturing.
A number of countries have opposed the restrictions. Among them are several oil-producing countries.
Another stumbling block is that they have not agreed on how the agreement should be voted through - by majority or by consensus.
Forecasts indicate a global increase in plastic production of 300 percent by 2060 if nothing is done.
Only 10 percent of all plastic is recycled globally. 80 percent of all plastic is estimated to remain as pollution in the world.
