Plastics treaty fails to reach agreement, countries plan to try again

Busan, South Korea — The plastics treaty talks failed to reach an agreement by its Dec. 1 deadline, with deep divisions remaining among the 175 countries at the end of a weeklong negotiation session.

But faced with the possibility that the talks would collapse, negotiators decided to try to salvage them and schedule another, potentially last round, in 2025.

The week of talks in the port city of Busan, the fifth and final planned session for the intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC-5), was supposed to produce a final agreement to meet a United Nations deadline to finish in 2024.

But deep disputes over limiting production, regulating chemicals and paying for the treaty proved too much to overcome.

Some observers were skeptical that extending the talks past the original deadline will produce an agreement, because very stark differences remain.

But others see growing signs of alignment among a majority of nations that could be the basis of a future agreement.

"We share the unhappiness that can be felt in this room with the limited amount of progress we made this week," said Hugo Schally, a representative for the European Union, said in a Dec. 1 closing plenary session.

"Nevertheless, we feel encouraged and empowered by the joint support that ambitious measures achieved," he said. "We're sure this support will grow."

A negotiator for Panama, who led a proposal from more than 80 nations to have measures limiting plastics production in the treaty, noted that 80 to 100 countries supported measures from Rwanda and Mexico calling for production limits, chemicals regulation and other limits.

"The momentum is with this coalition, even if the challenges are still daunting," said Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, lead negotiator for Panama.

Some are calling for more political support at the next round.

Both the European Union and Canada said during the closing plenary, which stretched into the early morning of Dec. 2, that they wanted governments to send high-ranking ministers to the next round of talks to help bring a deal across the finish line.

But countries opposing production limits and chemicals provisions restated their positions and showed no sign of changing their positions.

Iran, for example, said those measures are beyond the scope of the treaty's mandate.

As well, Iran said that new provisions added to the treaty's draft framework this week calling for fees on virgin plastic to pay for the treaty should exempt developing nations.

Saudi Arabian negotiator Abdulrahman Al Gwaiz said the agreement should focus on plastics pollution, rather than attacking plastics as a material.

"The problem is the pollution, not the plastics," he said.

Similarly, Kuwait said countries were expanding the treaty beyond what it said was the original mandate on plastics pollution in the environment, and he questioned what materials could replace plastic.

"We have observed attempts to stretch this mandate beyond its original intent," said Salman Al-Ajmi, a negotiator from Kuwait. "We haven't heard any solutions thus far on what materials will replace plastic."

Plastics industry groups see signs of progress, although in different ways than the EU and Panama.

Plastics Europe sees negotiators finding convergence in lower profile areas like product design and waste management.

"We believe the agreement needs measures promoting sustainable production and consumption, effective waste management, and to ensure reporting frameworks that enable a just transition to a circular economy," said Virginia Janssens, managing director at Plastics Europe.

The Global Partners for Plastics Circularity, which includes many large resin makers, urged countries to abandon supply restrictions like production caps or chemical regulations that duplicate other international agreements.

"There is a better way to end pollution: A circular economy for plastics, where plastics are designed for reuse and recycling and collected and remade into new products at end of life," said Chris Jahn, a spokesman for GPPC and president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council.

"The treaty can send the right signals, such as recycled plastic targets in national action plans and guidance to design plastics for reuse and recycling, that can accelerate our transition from a linear to circular economy," he said.

But a coalition of consumer goods companies and financial institutions said it welcomed the increasing support in the talks for global bans and regulation of plastic production.

"We are encouraged by the increased alignment amongst over 100 countries on critical elements such as global phase-outs and sustainable levels of plastic production," the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty said in a statement. "Never before have so many countries clearly articulated support for these obligations."

It said not having an agreement completed in Busan will delay the investment signals that companies need to move toward greener use of plastics.

Like the Business Coalition, some environmental groups see momentum shifting, with more countries agreeing to more ambitious measures.

But they also said they felt those countries needed to be willing to push harder at the upcoming extended round of negotiations.

"For the next meeting, the assignment for member states is clear: The ambitious majority must break through fossil fuel influence and the obstruction of a few, to deliver an effective agreement," said Graham Forbes, head of delegation for Greenpeace.

The World Wildlife Fund said it was disappointed that the negotiators could not agree on a treaty, but said it sees momentum growing for production reduction and chemicals of concern to be part of the treaty.

"This sentiment cannot be ignored as we move forward," said Erin Simon, vice president and head of plastic waste and business at WWF.

The environmental groups pointed to statements from Rwanda, representing more than 80 nations, and Mexico, representing 95 countries, calling for stronger measures.

Juliet Kabera, a delegate from Rwanda, said in a speech from the plenary floor that she was representing 85 countries that want global targets to reduce production, legally binding measures on chemicals and products, as well as financing and implementation.

"We have made much-needed progress on a range of critical issues," she said. "However, we voice concern with a small group of countries who want to remove binding provisions."

A negotiator from Norway said that while the Busan talks did not produce an agreement, the developments there show a path for a future deal.

"We could not deliver a treaty as promised today but for the first time we can see the contours," the Norwegian delegate said.