Lobbyists and oil-producers blamed for failure of Geneva plastics treaty

Negotiations for a binding treaty on plastic pollution broke down in Geneva on Friday. Several experts are pointing the finger at pressure from interest groups and oil- and plastic-producing countries. The verdict came at dawn on Friday. “We will not have a treaty on plastic pollution here in Geneva,” declared the Norwegian representative during a plenary session. The negotiations, which had been going on for ten days and were due to end at midnight on August 14, went on until 6am. The heads of the 185 delegations meeting in Geneva were then expected to accept a compromise text, still vague on more than 100 points. Almost all the countries present at the informal session rejected it. Reducing plastic production was the central stumbling block in the discussions. The aim was to set a global ceiling on production, then gradually reduce it, while limiting the toxic substances used in manufacture. A sensitive issue, which pitted two camps against each other in a tug-of-war that echoed ...