Negotiations over the first legally-binding UN treaty on plastic pollution ended in failure on Sunday evening, after oil-producing nations led by Saudi Arabia and Russia blocked efforts by 100 countries to place limits on new production, drawing shock and outrage from organisations that had been working to illustrate the vast and catastrophic impact that plastic pollution has upon both the environment and human health.

The fifth round of talks, which took place in Busan in the Republic of Korea this week, will now be extended into an undecided future date in 2025 after nations failed to agree over how to tackle the world’s plastic crisis, causing discussions to collapse at the final hour.

The result has led in a display of outrage by many within the environmental space who have been working to facilitate a transition away from plastics and fossil fuel based materials in pursuit of more sustainable systems such as the circular economy or a switch to more sustainable materials altogether.

It’s suggested that negotiations have been hamstrung by heavily financed lobbying from the fossil fuel sector.

“The plastics industry, aka Big Oil, must be dancing for joy,” said Sian Sutherland, co-founder of the environmental NGO, A Plastic Planet which works alongside both business and government to aid with the transition from plastics.

“They threw everything possible at these UN Plastics Treaty negotiations – hundreds of lobbyists; expensive ad campaigns; buckets of misinformation; extraordinary delaying tactics. When you have limitless funding from fossil fuels, derailing the negotiations is small change.”

The impasse at which nations met during the final stage of talks this weekend is reflective of current geopolitical strains. The Treaty talks are just the latest UN forum to have ended with a roadblock in the past month following the anti-climactic end to which the UN biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia came last month, when talks were suspended to be reconvened next year.

“We must acknowledge that we have not yet reached the summit of our efforts. While the peak is now within our sight, our journey will only conclude when we have successfully achieved our objectives,” said Luis Vayas Valdivieso, the Ecuadorian chair of the UN plastic treaty negotiations in the final plenary.

On board with efforts to end the use of single-use plastics and harmful chemicals were many major global consumer groups, including Walmart, Unilever, and Nestlé.

The most divisive issues, however, included capping plastic production, managing plastic products and chemicals of concern, and financing to help developing countries implement the treaty. A small number of petrochemical-producing nations, such as Saudi Arabia, have strongly opposed efforts to reduce plastic production.

The Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty was moved to issue its own statement on the outcome of talks this week, saying that “consensus among all nations remains elusive.”

“We are encouraged by the increased alignment among over 100 countries on critical elements such as global phase-outs and sustainable levels of plastic production,” it said. 

“Never before have so many countries clearly articulated support of these obligations. The latest text from the INC Chair is also a step forward on product design and waste management as a basis for future negotiations.

“Disappointingly, consensus among all nationals remains elusive, which further delays critical action to end plastic pollution.”

These delays are eating into time that many believe we simply don’t have. Likened to a Paris agreement for plastics, the treaty was meant to contend with the pollution crisis from the consumption of 60kg per person of plastics annually. Using the current trajectory of global plastic production, it’s anticipated that we will be producing around one billion tonnes of plastic a year by the year 2050, while the International Energy Agency predicts that oil-based feedstock for plastic will be the primary driver of oil demand growth in the latter half of this decade.  

“Meanwhile, billions of people live with the consequences,” said A Plastic Planet’s Sutherland. “Humanity has lost a once in a lifetime opportunity to fix not just the plastics crisis, but impact so much of our meta crisis. Because, of course, everything is connected. Plastic is a climate issue and a human rights issue. [It] also has immeasurable impact on the biodiversity crisis and is the enabler of over-consumption – fast fashion is built on polyester plastic – and of course it is a human health issue; plastic and its 16,000 chemicals are toxic for humans, especially children.”

As reported in the Financial Times, the International Council of Chemical Associations, which represents petrochemical producers, lobbied against including targets for plastic production in the final treaty. 

“It’s crucial that this treaty stays focused on addressing the primary cause of plastic pollution – mismanaged waste,” said Chris Jahn, secretary of the council. Reuse, recycling, and the collection of plastic waste were a “better way to end pollution,” he argued.

Better infrastructure and an overhaul of the plastic waste management systems won’t, however, reverse the adverse effects plastic pollution from micro- and nano-plastics is having on human health or the health of biodiversity across the ecosystem. Microplastic pollution is found today almost everywhere we look, from the polar regions to human placenta.

“Already found in blood, breast milk, testicles, and brains, the irrefutable impact on human health from endocrine disrupting chemicals can already be seen with the sharp decline in fertility, increases in cancer in the young, Alzheimer’s, autism, and heart disease,” said Sutherland.

“We should be outraged that this one opportunity for a legally binding treaty that protects us has failed.”

While the disappointment is palpable – and unavoidable – among the environmental sector right now, those acting on behalf of the conservation and protection of the ocean, such as the Ocean Conservancy suggest that while this may be ‘down’ it is certainly not ‘out’ for talks to strike a global plastic treaty.

“With over a garbage truck’s worth of plastic entering the ocean each minute, every second counts in addressing the ocean plastic pollution crisis, and we are disappointed that the finalisation of the plastics treaty has been delayed,” said Ocean Conservancy’s vice president of conservation, Ocean Plastics, Nicholas Mallos.

“At the same time, Ocean Conservancy remains determined to use this extension as an opportunity to continue fighting for a strong and ambitious treaty that rises to the occasion and meets the plastic pollution crisis with the urgency it demands.

“We are grateful to high-ambition countries like Panama and others for pushing to keep these negotiations on track, and we look forward to working with member states to finalise a plastics treaty at INC-5.2.”

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